Neo-Nazi Liebich Brought Back to Germany

Neo-Nazi Marla Svenja Liebich has been transferred from the Czech Republic to Germany. The Czech police announced this this morning on the platform X. According to judicial authorities, the convicted right-wing extremist is to be transferred to the women’s prison in Chemnitz, Saxony.

The case has caused quite a stir in Germany because Liebich had their gender changed from male to female after being sentenced to prison. In addition, their name was changed from Sven to Marla Svenja. Critics viewed this as a provocation and spoke of an abuse of the Self-Determination Act, which had been pushed through by the then-German “traffic light” coalition government—composed of the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP—and which has been in effect since 2024.

As soon as Liebich arrives in Chemnitz, the administration of the women’s prison must decide whether she will serve her sentence there. She was originally supposed to begin her sentence there at the end of August 2025, but she fled and was not apprehended until April of this year in the Czech Republic.

Liebich was subsequently taken to Pilsen (Plzen) in the Czech Republic. In early June, the court in that city in western Czech Republic ruled that Liebich should be handed over to the German authorities.

Later, the Higher Regional Court in Prague dismissed the 55-year-old’s appeals against her extradition. The court stated that the appeals were unfounded. Before the court in Pilsen, Liebich had stated that she did not want to be sent to Germany because she feared she would lose her life in a German men’s prison.

It has been a recurring issue for many years now

Liebich had been organizing demonstrations regularly since 2014, often at the market square in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. These demonstrations frequently led to clashes with counter-protesters. On several occasions, courts had to address charges brought against Liebich.

In July 2023, the right-wing extremist—who at the time was still a man named Sven—was sentenced by the Halle District Court to a total prison term of one year and six months without probation for incitement of the people, defamation, and insult.

In six counts of the indictment, the prosecution had brought various charges against the right-wing extremist, who was born in 1970 in Merseburg in the Saale District (Saxony-Anhalt). Some of the incidents had already occurred several years prior to the start of the trial. The judge had stated at the time that Liebich was a “walking tightrope” and, in some cases, crossed the line of legality. In previous trials, courts had imposed only fines or suspended sentences.