German court fines senior AfD politician €13,000 for using banned Nazi phrase

Björn Höcke, party’s candidate to lead Thuringia state, found to have deliberately used SA slogan in 2021 speech

A German court has fined a leading member of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party for using a banned Nazi phrase at a political rally, in a high-profile trial just months before an election in which he aims to become a state leader.

The state court in Halle convicted Björn Höcke, the firebrand chief of the AfD in the eastern region of Thuringia, of deliberately using a slogan associated with the Nazi party’s paramilitary wing, the SA, in a speech at a campaign event in May 2021.