AfD politician on trial over Nazi song played at his birthday party

A controversial member of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party accused of incitement to hatred and money laundering appeared in court on Wednesday on the first day of his trial.

Daniel Halemba, a member of Bavaria's state parliament, faces a slew of charges, including over a banned song that promotes the expulsion of migrants from Germany that was allegedly played at his birthday party.

Prosecutors say the song by disbanded neo-Nazi rock band Landser, which was classified as a criminal organization in 2005, was played from a USB stick owned by Halemba on his 21st birthday in July 2022.

Halemba, now 24, was aware that the lyrics incite hatred towards Germany's large Turkish community as they call for the forceful expulsion of citizens with Turkish roots, prosecutor Tobias Kostuch argued at the start of proceedings at the district court in Würzburg.

Halemba, who is the AfD's top candidate for the next local elections in the Bavarian city, has denied all accusations against him, arguing that he was not present at the party at the time in question.

Addressing the press in smart dress ahead of the start of the trial on Wednesday, he described the proceedings as "politically motivated" and reiterated his call for the charges to be dropped.

Long list of charges

Halemba initially didn't address the charges in court, but defence attorney Dubravko Mandic, one of the three lawyers on Halemba's legal team, accused prosecutors of acting on "political bias" and compiling a "shaky construct" of allegations.

Halemba, who was indicted more than 18 months ago, also faces charges of money laundering, property damage, coercion and attempted coercion.

He is alleged to have harassed a lawyer and damaged the door to his office. In addition, the politician is accused of having intimidated a witness in the preliminary investigation before his planned interrogation by the Würzburg public prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors also believe that the AfD politician transferred a four-figure sum from his private account to an account in a Baltic country, with the money said to originate from fraud committed by third parties.

However, it is unclear whether Halemba knew that the funds were derived from illegal activities.

The Bavarian chapter of the AfD has so far largely backed Halemba, who is considered to be on the far right of the spectrum and continues to serve his mandate in the state parliament.

In May, the populist party was decreed as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence service, a designation that inflamed debate about whether the party should be banned. The classification has since been put on hold pending a legal challenge.

The AfD became the biggest opposition party in German parliament after seeing huge gains in February's elections.