German telecommunications firm Deutsch Telekom is considering legal action against far-right politician Björn Höcke over claims Höcke made during a televised debate on Thursday evening.
Höcke, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the eastern state of Thuringia, is currently awaiting criminal trial for allegedly intentionally quoting the slogan of the Nazi Party’s infamous SA stormtroopers during two speeches.
In the televised debate, Höcke tried to play down the allegations against him by claiming that Deutsche Telekom once used the slogan – “Alles für Deutschland” (Everything for Germany) – as an advertising slogan several years ago.
“The allegation is false. We are passing it on to our lawyers,” said a Deutsche Telekom spokesman on Friday.
Höcke is set to go on trial on the charges next week. Using symbols and slogans of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party is strictly prohibited in Germany.
The Deutsche Telekom spokesman said the company already took action against AfD national co-chairwoman Alice Weidel last summer for making the same claim in an interview.
“She has promised to refrain from making the claim in future,” the company said.
Höcke, who is a history teacher, had justified his choice of words in the TV duel and claimed that he had not known during the speech that it was an SA slogan.
It was a “commonplace slogan,” he said.
On Friday, the court handling the case in the eastern city of Halle agreed to add a second count of incitement to the charges against Höcke for allegedly repeating the phrase again in a later speech.