Prominent figure in German far-right party charged over alleged Nazi slogan

BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors say a prominent figure in the far-right Alternative for Germany party has been charged over his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by the Nazis’ SA stormtroopers. Prosecutors in the eastern city of Halle said that Björn Höcke was charged with public use of a symbol of an unconstitutional organization. Höcke, an influential figure on his party’s hard right, is accused of ending a speech to some 250 people in Merseburg in May 2021 with the words “Everything for Germany!” Prosecutors charge that he was aware of the origin of the phrase as an SA slogan. They said Höcke’s lawyers have denied that his words had any “criminal relevance.”