Following his recent conviction, Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke will be tried again in Halle starting on June 24. And there is a third charge.
Police officers, demonstrators and camera crews are gathering in front of the Halle an der Saale justice center, while in the courtroom Björn Höcke is complaining about a campaign against him. His defense lawyers argue that it is just a common saying.
Sounds familiar? It is.
Because that’s what happened on four days of trial in April and May. And that’s how it will be repeated soon, with a few changes in detail. As the Halle Regional Court announced on Wednesday afternoon, the next main trial against the Thuringian AfD state leader will begin on June 24th, and will focus on “Everything for Germany.” The slogan was engraved on all of the SA’s service daggers and was displayed in large letters on the stage of the NSDAP’s Nuremberg Reich Party Rally in 1936.
This time, the court has only scheduled two days of proceedings. It is likely that Höcke will be sentenced again on June 26. The first trial had already ended in a guilty verdict in mid-May. The 5th Grand Criminal Division decided on a fine of 100 daily rates of 130 euros each because the AfD state leader had shouted the SA slogan at a rally in Merseburg in May 2021.
Björn Höcke has violated the ban on Nazi symbols
The court did not believe the defendant’s assurance that he did not know what he was chanting. The presiding judge, Jan Stengel, pointed out, however, that Höcke repeatedly used Nazi-related terms in speeches and books. He must also have known that two of his party colleagues in Saxony-Anhalt were being prosecuted by the judiciary for precisely this slogan. The chamber’s conclusion: Höcke had deliberately used “Everything for Germany” – and thus violated the ban on Nazi symbols laid down in criminal section 86a.
The punishment is high enough that Höcke would be considered a criminal. In extreme cases, he could lose his civil servant status in Hesse, where he worked as a history and sports teacher until 2014.
But it is not that far yet. Höcke’s three defense lawyers have appealed against the decision. And as long as the Federal Court of Justice examines the verdict for possible legal errors, it is not legally binding. The public prosecutor’s office, which had demanded six months’ probation plus a fine, has waived its appeal.
Regardless of this, the second main hearing in Halle will soon begin. This time it concerns an appearance by Höcke in December 2023 in Gera. Again he spoke at an AfD event. And again he shouted “Everything for…” – while gesturing to the audience to complete the sentence. Some people followed and shouted “Germany!”.
The Halle public prosecutor’s office had originally planned to try the Gera case together with the Merseburg demonstration. However, on the third day of the trial, it withdrew its application for, as it was said, “procedural economy reasons”.
Nevertheless, the video documenting the Gera event was shown during the first trial at the request of the prosecutor – but only to illustrate the context of the alleged crime in Merseburg. The presiding judge explained that it should not be considered an aggravating factor.
It can be assumed that Höcke will also use the new trial to systematically portray himself as a victim of the justice system on social media. Like US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he is relying on this scandalization to mobilize new voters and collect donations.
Proceedings for incitement in Mühlhausen
And like Trump, Höcke is facing further charges. He has to answer to the regional court in Mühlhausen, Thuringia. It concerns a post he published on the social network “Telegram” in 2022. In it, Höcke addresses the fatal knife attack by a Somali man in Ludwigshafen.
He wrote: “The perpetrator is probably mentally ill and suffers from the widespread disease among immigrants that makes those affected shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ and distorts their perception so much that they see their ‘infidel’ hosts as lives unworthy of life.” The public prosecutor’s office therefore apparently considers the crime of incitement to hatred to have been committed.
However, it is not clear when the trial in Mühlhausen will begin. A spokesman for the regional court said on Wednesday that he could not yet give any dates for the trial, in response to a request from the star.
In addition, Höcke is already facing the next trial. It concerns a speech given in January 2024 in Gera, in which Höcke stated, among other things, that Germany was “no longer a functioning democracy”. The Gera public prosecutor’s office is considering opening an investigation on suspicion of incitement to hatred and defamation of the state.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
