Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD, has been on trial since Thursday for having uttered the words "All for Germany." The trial in Halle, in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt, is particularly followed. The AfD has experienced a surge in the polls since the summer but has recently fallen back a little due to very radical positions in its ranks, particularly around the expulsion of foreigners from Germany.
Elections are also planned for the fall in Saxony and Brandenburg, where the far-right party hopes to assert itself during key regional elections. A few hundred demonstrators, brandishing banners with the inscriptions "Stop the AfD" or "Björn H cke is a Nazi," gathered in front of the court surrounded by police forces. "For the voters of this region, a conviction of Höcke by the court will not change anything because they will still vote for him," says a local politician.