rabble-rousing
Charges against Björn Höcke expanded
Björn Höcke in the Thuringian state parliament. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia classifies Höcke as a right-wing extremist. photo
© Martin Schutt/dpa
Thuringia’s AfD state party and parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke will be on trial in Halle next week. It’s about the accusation of sedition. Now even by two cases.
The trial against the AfD politician Björn Höcke before the regional court in Halle has had one charge added. From April 18, the Thuringian AfD parliamentary group and state leader will have to answer in two cases for using license plates of a former National Socialist organization, as the Halle regional court announced on Friday.
According to the indictment, Höcke is said to have uttered the forbidden slogan of the Sturmabteilung (SA) of the NSDAP, “Everything for Germany!” also used at an AfD event in Gera last December. The SA was the paramilitary fighting organization of the NSDAP. As a speaker, Höcke is said to have said the first part of the slogan “Everything for” himself and used gestures to encourage the audience to shout “Germany”.
According to the further charge, the AfD politician is said to have used the banned slogan in its entirety on May 29, 2021 in a speech in Merseburg (Saalekreis), Anhalt. Höcke is said to have known that the last part of the formula “Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany” was a forbidden statement. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia classifies Höcke as a right-wing extremist. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, his party is considered right-wing extremist.