The verdict against Björn Höcke was due to be handed down today in the “Everything for Germany” trial. But his lawyers are flooding the court with a flood of motions, so the proceedings are continuing. A “politically biased” witness is disinvited at the last minute – thus avoiding a scandal.
The trial begins with a bombshell: Dr. Yves Müller, who was supposed to appear as an expert witness, was “disinvited” at short notice, says Judge Jan Stengel. The expert actually wanted to give a talk about the National Socialist “Sturmabteilung” (SA), his professional hobbyhorse.
But the public prosecutor’s office found out what anyone can find out with a rough search on the Internet: Müller, who works at the Institute for Regional History of Saxony-Anhalt, is not an objective witness – but apparently a staunch leftist who has made several negative public statements about the AfD and Höcke.
The 41-year-old historian has written articles for, among others, the highly controversial Amadeu Antonio Foundation, the Antifaschistische Infoblatt, the Neue Deutschland, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the anti-racist magazine ZAG.
This means that, at least for the court, the witness has a clear “political bias”. Impartiality? Hard to imagine.
“We have decided not to hear him,” Stengel announces grumpily, adding: “That is simply not possible.” With this, the presiding judge anticipates a request from Höcke’s defense attorneys, who of course also looked at Müller’s CV and would have intervened accordingly.
But the two lawyers, as expected, still have enough arrows in their quiver.
Florian Gempe, for example, has submitted half a dozen requests for evidence. He is demanding a “historical expert report.” It is intended to prove that “Everything for Germany” played “no role” in the SA and was only used “occasionally.”
Gempe’s point is that the slogan Höcke is accused of using “does not represent a prohibited symbol” – and thus undermines the accusation. A bold undertaking indeed.
The Erfurt lawyer also wants the participants of the AfD event in Gera to be tracked down who shouted the word “Germany” in December 2023 after Höcke, who was standing on stage, shouted “Everything for…” into the microphone. These people should be “called as witnesses” and could certainly confirm Höcke’s innocence.
Finally, the lawyer, who does not always seem to be very confident when reading out his own documents, requests that the “proceedings be suspended and submitted to the Federal Constitutional Court”. The reason is, in his opinion, the inadmissible prosecution of Höcke as a member of the state parliament. Accordingly, he was protected during the Gera speech.
Höcke’s legal representative Ralf Hornemann also has several requests. He is requesting that an article from the Swiss weekly newspaper “Weltwoche” be read out in court and a scene from the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz” be shown.
In these media, a well-known constitutional lawyer (Rupert Scholz) and a well-known criminal law professor (Kai Ambos) have commented on the judicial approach against Höcke. Scholz described the accusations as “ridiculous”, while Ambos is certain that “99 percent of German citizens” are unaware of the SA reference in the slogan “Everything for Germany”.
Judge Jan Stengel, who has already experienced a lot in his career, does not seem particularly surprised by the flood of applications.
He glances briefly out of the panoramic window into the sunlit courtyard of the courthouse. “Sitting in here in this weather isn’t the worst thing,” he jokes. It’s sweltering outside, the courtroom is pleasantly cool – it could be a long day of proceedings. Stengel orders a break of more than two hours to examine the motions.
Shortly after 12, the proceedings resume. Public prosecutor Viola Knatz finds clear words for the eight applications made by the defense. In each individual case, she decides with forensic coolness: “must be rejected,” “must be rejected,” “more than unrealistic,” or something similar.
She has no idea that Höcke’s representative Hornemann will soon express another wish. He wants the Nazi propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” by Leni Riefenstahl to be shown in court. It lasts just under two hours.
Then prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen makes five new requests for evidence, with Höcke, who was chauffeured to the trial in a black BMW, either shaking his head or accepting his opponent’s statements with his eyes closed.
In any case, Bernzen states that Höcke’s understanding of democracy “is not compatible with our free and democratic basic order.” One of the reasons: The Thuringian AfD leader had described the proceedings against him as a “political show trial.”
In view of the large number of applications, Judge Stengel believes the timetable is at acute risk and asks those involved in the proceedings to keep further dates free as a precaution. Whether the verdict planned for today can be pronounced is more than questionable at this point.
A verbal exchange between the defense and the prosecution follows. Höcke calls the statements of prosecutor Bernzen “infamous,” and his lawyer Hornemann even speaks of a “disgrace.” The point of contention is the obligation of public prosecutors in Germany to follow instructions – and the “influence” of politics, as claimed by Höcke.
The lawyer rants against Bernzen: “I don’t know how many calls you’ve received from the Minister of Justice.” The prosecutor lets him down. “I’m not going to enter into a dialogue with you.”
Finally, Judge Stengel has the last word. He rejects one motion from the public prosecutor’s office and waves through another. Commenting on all the other motions today, particularly from Höcke’s side, “would go beyond the scope.” That is why the trial must continue.
After a long discussion – at one point Höcke was on holiday abroad and could not come to Halle, at another point one of his lawyers was unwell – they agreed on July 1 and July 15.
The fact that Höcke is fully committed to the AfD federal party conference in Essen on the weekend before his first meeting and then has to travel straight to Saxony-Anhalt does not bother Judge Stengel. “That’s life.”
