A controversial member of Bavaria’s state parliament from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is due to stand trial on charges including incitement to hatred and money laundering from Wednesday.
The trial of AfD politician Daniel Halemba opens at the district court in Würzburg, which has scheduled eight days of hearings.
Prosecutors argue that the incitement-to-hatred charge is based on the playing of a song by the neo-Nazi rock band Landser. The lyrics incite hatred against Turkish people living in Germany, they say.
The band is classified as a criminal organization, and the song is believed to have been played at Halemba’s birthday party in July 2022. Halemba argues that he was not even present at the party at the time in question.
The Würzburg public prosecutor’s office has been dealing with Halemba for more than two years.
In September 2023, a search was conducted at the house of the Teutonia Prag zu Würzburg fraternity, of which Halemba was a member. There were suspicions of the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations. In October 2023, Halemba was detained on the basis of an arrest warrant, which was later suspended.
He is alleged to have harassed a lawyer and damaged the door to his office. In addition, the politician is alleged to have intimidated a witness in the preliminary investigation before his planned interrogation by the Würzburg public prosecutor’s office.
The public prosecutor’s office also assumes that the AfD politician transferred a mid-four-figure sum from his private account to an account in the Baltic States.
The money is said to originate from fraud committed by third parties, with Halemba allegedly receiving a commission for the transfer.
Halemba has denied all the charges and said he expects to be acquitted.
