Proceedings against Thuringia's AfD leader Björn Höcke discontinued

The Gera public prosecutor's office has dropped proceedings against Thuringia's AfD leader Björn Höcke 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. The news portal “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.

As “t-online” reports, Höcke portrayed Germany as “foreignly determined” at the time. The country is being driven into war by an “alien power” (i.e. the USA). Germany is the “bridgehead” of a “rainbow empire” that is pushing “mass immigration,” destroying the nation and family and attacking “our children,” “t-online” quotes individual passages. The clip was later deleted from Höcke's channel, but is mentioned in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution report for the state of Brandenburg. The investigation was carried out on suspicion of defamation of the state.

The Gera public prosecutor's office also justified the discontinuation of the proceedings by saying that in the event of a conviction, a total sentence would have had to be formed with the penalties of the Halle regional court's verdicts. Höcke was 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.

Höcke will still face legal trouble in the future. It has been known since February 2024 that the AfD politician still has to answer in court on charges of incitement to hatred.