German AfD lawmaker loses appeal over alleged Hitler salute election poster

AfD parliamentarian Wilko Möller faced a legal defeat when the Federal Court of Justice rejected his appeal against a conviction for employing a campaign poster that authorities said resembled a Hitler salute. The third criminal senate in Karlsruhe reviewed the Frankfurt (Oder) district court's decision and found no procedural or substantive error, thereby upholding the original ruling. The contested poster, created by a marketing firm, showed a man and a woman whose raised arms formed a shape over three children seated on a sofa, a pose critics argued echoed the Nazi greeting.

Despite recognizing the similarity, Möller proceeded with a mass production of the flyer and had it displayed in Frankfurt (Oder). The lower court had previously imposed a monetary penalty and recorded the conviction in his criminal record. Möller had denied the allegations and pursued legal remedies, which were ultimately dismissed.