A state MP with the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has been fined of €11,600 for printing an election poster that allegedly showed a man performing the so-called Nazi salute.
In 2024, Wilko Möller, a state MP in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, had an election poster designed and printed that aimed to illustrate the party’s pro-family policy.
The poster showed a stock photo of three blonde children sitting on a couch with a man and woman above them extending their arms to form a roof above the children’s heads, accompanied by the slogan “We protect your kids”.
Zum Wahlplakat hatte ich mich zuerst nicht geäußert.
Jetzt ist klar, das Stockfoto wurde für das Plakat gespiegelt. Warum?
Wilko Möller, der mit seinem Namen auf dem Plakat wirbt, ist bekannt für seine "versteckten" Botschaften und weiß es angeblich nicht. pic.twitter.com/hIbnWHUsTt— Ella 🇸🇪 (@Ella_von_T) July 31, 2024
The Regional Court Frankfurt/Oder in the state of Brandenburg sided with the prosecutor’s office that said the image exhibited “a visual correspondence with the so-called Nazi salute”.
The gesture – performed by extending one’s right arm and hand in a straight line at about 45 degrees upward – is banned in Germany.
The court therefore found Möller guilty of using symbols of unconstitutional organisations – a crime punishable by up to three years in prison pursuant to Article 86a of the German Criminal Code.
The graphic designer whom Möller hired to design the poster has been acquitted.
The written verdict has not been published yet.
A spokesman for the court told Brussels Signal: “The accused was sentenced to a fine of 100 daily rates of €116 per day for using symbols of unconstitutional organisations. In its oral reasoning for the judgment, the court pointed out that the stock photo had been altered, namely mirrored, among other things.”
Indeed, the original version of the stock photo shows the man on the right, extending his left arm, while the woman is on the left, extending her right arm.
Brussels Signal contacted Möller and AfD but had not heard back at the time of writing.
The contentious stock photo has been used by numerous customers in its original form, including German parenting website Eltern.de and Romanian insurance broker Credite si Asigurari.
Several other parties – including the Christian Democratic Unionn of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the Greens Party – have used similar photos on election posters in the past without legal issues.
