Banned slogan

Nazi words: AfD politician Höcke charged again

A further charge has now been admitted against AfD politician Björn Höcke. It concerns the use of a banned National Socialist slogan, as the Thuringia Regional Court announced on Friday. Höcke is classified as a right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The politician is accused of using the banned slogan "Alles für Deutschland" (Everything for Germany) during a speech at an AfD event in Gera, Thuringia, in December. This goes back to the so-called Sturmabteilung (SA) of Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). At that time, Höcke was already the subject of criminal proceedings for a similar alleged incident.

Claims to have known nothing about it
At the end of May 2021, the politician is said to have concluded his speech at an election rally in Saxony-Anhalt with the words "Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany". He is said to have known that "Everything for Germany" was a banned slogan. Höcke denies having any knowledge of this.

Three trials
Both charges will now be bundled into one trial, which begins on Thursday next week. For another trial - for using signs of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations - hearings are scheduled until mid-May.

Höcke is also facing another trial in Thuringia. At the end of January, the Mühlhausen district court admitted an indictment against him on suspicion of incitement of the people (see video above). The case concerns a post made by the AfD politician in 2022 on the Telegram platform following a fatal knife attack by a Somali man in Germany.

The right-wing extremist is the chairman of the Thuringian AfD state association and his party's lead candidate for the state elections on September 1. The party is currently in first place in the polls.