Neo-Nazi Liebich Transferred to Men's Prison After Alleged Abuse of Gender Self-Determination Law

Liebich, who allegedly abused the Self-Determination Act, is back in Germany. The person was initially taken to a women's prison.

16 July 2026 | 9:50 AM

dpa — Although neo-Nazi Marla Svenja Liebich is officially considered a woman, she is to serve her prison sentence in a men's prison. The prison management at the women's prison in Chemnitz decided this, the Saxon Ministry of Justice told the German Press Agency. In 2025, it became known that Liebich had changed her gender entry from male to female, which critics considered a provocation.

After her extradition from the Czech Republic to Germany on Wednesday, Liebich was initially taken to the women's prison in Chemnitz. On the same day, she was transferred to the Zeithain correctional facility in the district of Meißen, it was now said.

"It's good that the prison quickly provided clarity and did not engage in theatrics," said Saxony's Minister of Justice Constanze Geiert (CDU). The decision by the prison management was made, among other things, after a conversation with Liebich and an examination of her. In weighing the relevant aspects, the safety of women in the Chemnitz correctional system was also a factor, it was said.

In July 2023, the right-wing extremist – then still a man with the first name Sven – was sentenced by the Halle District Court to a total prison sentence of one year and six months without probation for incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. Liebich was originally supposed to begin serving the sentence at the end of August 2025.

Court Decision on Gender Change Pending

In the meantime, Sven Liebich had changed his gender entry from male to female and his first name to Marla Svenja. Critics spoke of an abuse of the Self-Determination Act. A decision is still pending before the district court in Halle on whether the changes can be reversed. The Saalekreis district stated that it had initiated legal steps for a correction of the entry in December 2025.

Because Liebich has officially been considered a woman since the change, she was summoned to the Chemnitz women's prison to begin her sentence. It is the prison closest to Liebich's registered address. However, the right-wing extremist did not begin her sentence last year, instead fled, and was only caught in the Czech Republic in April of this year.

Liebich Did Not Want to Be Brought to Germany

She was then taken to Pilsen (Plzeň). Before the court in the city in western Czech Republic, Liebich stated that she did not want to be brought to Germany because she feared she would die in a German men's prison. Ultimately, the Czech judiciary gave the green light for the extradition.

Since 2014, Liebich had regularly organized demonstrations, often on the market square in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. This repeatedly led to confrontations with counter-demonstrators. Courts have had to deal with accusations against Liebich on several occasions.

In the trial against Liebich, which ended with the final verdict of a prison sentence, the Halle public prosecutor's office brought various charges in six indictments against the right-wing extremist, who was born in 1970 in Merseburg in the Saalekreis district. Some incidents were already several years old at the start of the trial.