The Gera public prosecutor's office has closed an investigation against the Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke on suspicion of denigrating the state, as previous convictions for SA slogans are already more serious.
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Björn Höcke has already been convicted twice by the Halle regional court for using a banned SA slogan.
The Gera public prosecutor's office has closed proceedings against Björn Höcke. She investigated the Thuringian AfD leader on suspicion of denigrating the state.
The investigating authority pointed out that Höcke had already been convicted twice by the Halle regional court for using a banned SA slogan. “The punishment that could be imposed for the reported crime would probably not be of any significant significance,” said the Gera public prosecutor’s office. T-online first reported on the discontinuation of the proceedings.
According to the Gera public prosecutor's office, the decision to refrain from prosecution in the proceedings was made in mid-December 2025. The proceedings concerned a speech by Höcke that he gave on German Unity Day on October 3, 2022 in Gera. Höcke had already been sentenced to fines of 100 daily rates and 130 daily rates of 130 euros each for using the SA slogan. The judgments are legally binding.
Before the trial began regarding the fatal police shooting of 21-year-old Lorenz in Oldenburg, the court commissioned a police psychological report. The defendant is said to have shot the young man from behind on Easter night 2025.
The Gera public prosecutor's office has dropped proceedings against Thuringia's AfD leader Björn Höcke for denigrating the state. The reason is that convictions have already been made for SA slogans, which is why an additional punishment would not be significant.

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