A court ruled on Tuesday that one of the best-known figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party knowingly used a Nazi slogan in a speech and ordered him to pay a fine.

The verdict in Bj�rn H�cke�s trial comes months before a regional election in the eastern state of Thuringia in which he plans to run for the governor�s job.

The state court in the eastern city of Halle convicted H�cke of using symbols of a former Nazi organization. It imposed a fine totaling 13,000 euros (about $14,000).

The charge can carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Prosecutors had sought a six-month suspended sentence, while defense lawyers argued for acquittal.

The case centered on a speech in Merseburg in May 2021 in which H�cke used the phrase �Everything for Germany!� Prosecutors contended he was aware of its origin as a slogan of the Nazis� SA stormtroopers, but H�cke has argued that it is an �everyday saying.�

Court spokesperson Adina Kessler-Jensch said judges were convinced that H�cke was aware the formulation was a banned SA slogan.

Presiding Judge Jan Stengel told H�cke that �you are an articulate, intelligent man who knows what he is saying,� German news agency dpa reported.

The former history teacher testified at the trial that he is �completely innocent� and described himself as a �law-abiding citizen.�

The 52-year-old H�cke is an influential figure on the hard right of Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

He has led the AfD�s regional branch in Thuringia since 2013, the year the party was founded, and is due to lead its campaign in a state election set for Sept. 1.

He once called the Holocaust memorial in Berlin a �monument of shame� and called for Germany to perform a �180-degree turn� in how it remembers its past. A party tribunal in 2018 rejected a bid to have him expelled.

Prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen argued in Tuesday�s closing arguments that H�cke had used Nazi vocabulary �strategically and systematically� in the past, dpa reported.

H�cke accused prosecutors of not looking for exonerating circumstances and argued that freedom of opinion is limited in Germany.

Both sides can appeal the verdict. After the trial concluded, H�cke wrote in an English-language post on social network X: �If this verdict stands, free speech will be dead in Germany. The ability to dissent is in jeopardy.�

It�s questionable whether the conviction in the trial, which opened in mid-April, will have any significant political effect on H�cke�s ambitions. It won�t have any direct legal effect on his candidacy.

AfD is particularly strong in Germany�s formerly communist east, where Thuringia is located. It�s unlikely that any other party will agree to work with H�cke and put him in the governor�s office, but AfD�s strength has made forming governing coalitions in the region very complicated.

The Thuringia branch of AfD is one of three that the domestic intelligence agency has under official surveillance as a �proven right-wing extremist� group.

On Monday, a court ruled in a separate case that the agency was justified in putting the whole party under observation for suspected extremism. AfD has portrayed the designation as a political attempt to discredit the party and said it will seek to appeal.

(AP)