German politician faces criminal trial for insulting Bavarian leader

A lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will likely stand trial for insulting Bavaria's conservative state premier, Markus Söder, during a speech last year.

Stephan Protschka, who also serves as the AfD's state chairman in Bavaria, denounced Söder as "Södolf" and called him a "traitor to the state" in a speech during the AfD's Ash Wednesday festivities in 2023.

"Sodolf" is a combination of Söder with Adolf (Hitler) and is seen as an insult.

Protschka is scheduled to stand trial on June 23, a spokesman for the district court in the southern German town of Deggendorf told dpa on Wednesday.

Germany's parliament previously voted to lift Protschka's immunity to enable the criminal proceedings against him to move forward.

Protschka had previously lodged an appeal against a penalty order demanding that the politician pay a fine "in the lower five-figure range," according to the Munich public prosecutor's office.

Protschka told dpa that he was looking forward to the trial: "I did nothing wrong. It was a political speech at a political event by a politician."

Ash Wednesday political events in Germany are "known for crude speeches," Protschka said.

Protschka noted that Söder had also mocked a Bavarian AfD leader as "a poor man's Leni Riefenstahl" - a reference to a notorious Nazi propaganda filmmaker - during an Ash Wednesday speech this year.

"I can't imagine that my statements were in any way unlawful," said Protschka. "I expect an acquittal or a dismissal of the case."