July 15, 2026, 12:02 p.mJuly 15, 2026, 2:44 p.m
Neo-Nazi Marla Svenja Liebich was brought from the Czech Republic to Germany. The Czech police announced this on the X platform this morning. According to the judiciary, the convicted right-wing extremist will be taken to the women’s prison in Chemnitz, Saxony.
Marla Svenja Liebich had her gender changed from male to female.Image: DPA
The case caused a stir in Germany because Liebich had his gender changed from male to female after being sentenced to prison. In addition, Sven’s name was changed to Marla Svenja. Critics considered this a provocation and spoke of an abuse of the self-determination law, which the then German “traffic light” government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP had pushed forward and which has been in force since 2024.
As soon as Liebich is in Chemnitz, the management of the women’s prison must decide whether Liebich should be held there. She was originally supposed to start imprisonment there at the end of August 2025, but fled and was only caught in the Czech Republic in April of this year.
Liebich was then taken to Pilsen (Plzen), Czech Republic. The court in the city in the west of the Czech Republic then decided at the beginning of June that Liebich should be handed over to the German authorities.
The Higher Regional Court in Prague later rejected the 55-year-old’s complaints against the extradition. It was said that they were not justified. Before the court in Pilsen, Liebich stated that she did not want to be taken to Germany because she was afraid of dying in a German men’s prison.
It has been noticeable again and again for many years
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 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.
In six indictments, the public prosecutor’s office made different allegations against the right-wing extremist, who was born in Merseburg in the Saale district (Saxony-Anhalt) in 1970. At the beginning of the process, some incidents had already occurred several years ago. The judge explained at the time that Liebich was a tightrope walker and in some cases exceeded the limits of the law. In previous trials, courts only handed out fines or suspended sentences. (hkl/sda/dpa)