Georgia university leaders ask NCAA to ban transgender women from sports
Boeing weighs options for raising cash as ratings downgrade looms, sources say
Citi pushes back on New York lawsuit over fraud scams
As FEMA prepares for Hurricane Milton, it battles rumors surrounding Helene recovery
Tampa in path of hurricane for first time in a century
FBI arrests Afghan man who officials say planned Election Day attack in the US
Nobel Prize in physics spotlights key breakthroughs in AI revolution − making machines that learn
Lynx return to finals with 88-77 win over Sun in Game 5 behind Collier's 27 points, 11 rebounds
Phillies one loss from elimination after 7-2 NL Division Series loss to Mets
Riley Keough felt a duty to finish Lisa Marie Presley’s book on Elvis, grief, addiction and love
HALLE, Germany (Reuters) -A leading member of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was fined on Tuesday by a court for using a banned Nazi paramilitary slogan, a court spokesperson said.
The court in the eastern city of Halle fined Bjoern Hoecke 13,000 euros ($14,062) after finding him guilty.
Hoecke, head of the AfD in the state of Thuringia, is part of the nationalist wing of the AfD, officially designated by the domestic intelligence agency as "right-wing extremist".
In May 2021, Hoecke ended a campaign speech in the eastern town of Merseburg with the words "Everything for Germany!". This phrase is banned as it was used by Nazi SA stormtroopers.
In Germany, the use of slogans and symbols linked to anti-constitutional groups, including the Nazi party, is illegal.
His lawyers argued he did not know the words were banned and Hoecke himself, a history teacher, said in a television debate he was unaware of the phrase's origin.
Hoecke could have faced a prison sentence of up to three years and been barred from public office.
($1 = 0.9245 euros)
(Reporting by Freerk Heinz and Oliver Ellrodt in Halle and Thomas Escritt in Berlin; additional reporting by Tom Sims; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Cynthia Osterman)
