Now the sentence has to be served in a men’s prison – neo-Nazi Marla Svenja Liebich.Image: DPA
July 16, 2026, 9:57 amJuly 16, 2026, 9:57 am
Although neo-Nazi Marla Svenja Liebich from Germany is officially considered a woman, she is expected to serve her sentence in a men’s prison. This was decided by the management of the women’s prison in Chemnitz.
The Ministry of Justice in the eastern German state of Saxony announced this to the DPA news agency.
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 parole for incitement, slander and insult. Liebich was originally scheduled to begin imprisonment at the end of August 2025, but then fled to the Czech Republic. She was caught there in April and extradited to Germany on Wednesday.
In 2025 it became known that Liebich had had the gender entry changed from male to female, which critics considered a provocation. The self-determination law introduced in 2024 under the German “traffic light government” made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP made this change to the gender entry possible in a fairly unbureaucratic manner.
Court decision on gender change is pending
After her extradition from the Czech Republic to Germany on Wednesday, Liebich was initially taken to the women’s prison in Chemnitz. It was said that she was transferred to the Zeithain correctional facility in the Meissen district on the same day.
Liebich’s new home will soon be – the JVA in Zeithain.Image: DPA
“It’s good that the prison quickly clarified things and didn’t get involved in staging things,” said Saxony’s Justice Minister Constanze Geiert. The decision of the institution management was made, among other things, after a conversation with Liebich and an investigation by her. When weighing up important aspects, it was also said that the safety of women in the prison system in Chemnitz was at stake.
A decision is currently pending before the district court in Halle as to whether the changes to the gender entry can be reversed. According to its own information, the Saalekreis initiated legal steps to correct the entry in December 2025.
Liebich did not want to be taken to Germany
After her arrest in the Czech Republic, she told a court there that she did not want to be taken to Germany because she was afraid of dying in a German men’s prison. Ultimately, the Czech judiciary gave the green light for the extradition.
Liebich had been organizing regular demonstrations since 2014, often on the market square in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. There were repeated clashes with counter-demonstrators. Courts had to deal with allegations against Liebich several times.
In the trial against Liebich, which ended with the final verdict of imprisonment, the Halle public prosecutor’s office made six different accusations against the right-wing extremist, who was born in Merseburg in the Saale district in 1970. At the beginning of the process, some incidents had already occurred several years ago. (nil/sda/dpa)