Taking advantage of Germany’s “gender self-determination” reforms, a male right-wing extremist officially changed his gender to female and will serve time in a women’s prison.
In July of 2023, Marla-Svenja Liebich was sentenced by the Halle District Court in Germany’s Saxon-Anhalt state to a year and six months without parole for incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. Interestingly, at that time, she was known as Sven Liebich and identified as a man. He appealed the original sentence and lost, but that was only the beginning of a very bizarre situation. At the end of 2024, Liebich, allegedly a member of a far-right extremist group called Blood and Honour, took advantage of Germany’s new Self-Determination Act to legally change his name to Marla-Svenja Liebich and his gender to female.
Photo: Matthew Ansley/Unsplash
“Whether the change is serious is doubtful. Liebich has been known for years for her right-wing extremist views and has also made queerphobic statements in the past,” German newspaper Der Spiegel wrote, alleging that he had “made the change of civil status in an abusive manner in order to provoke and embarrass the state”.
Back in January, when Liebich’s gender change started making news headlines in Germany, many outlets reported that he was unlikely to be sent to a women’s prison, because “anyone who changes their gender solely for the purpose of provocation will likely continue to be treated as a man in prison,” but Marla-Svenja Liebich even sued Der Spiegel for questioning her gender identity.
The Chief Public Prosecutor in Halle recently went on record to say that Marla-Svenja Liebich would serve her prison sentence at the Chemnitz women’s prison, and the convicted extremist confirmed it himself on X (Twitter), writing, “I will begin my prison sentence as scheduled. On August 29, 2025, at 10 pm, I will arrive at the Chemnitz correctional facility with my suitcases.”
BREAKING NIUS: Neonazi Sven Liebich hat auf Grundlage des schrecklichen Selbstbestimmungsgesetzes sein Geschlecht ändern lassen und will jetzt als Frau Svenja Liebich angesprochen werden. Nahezu alle Medien haben vor diesem Irrsinn gekuscht, weil sie entweder eingeschüchtert sind… pic.twitter.com/u1v5jOAscV
— Julian Reichelt (@jreichelt) August 19, 2025
A decision on where exactly Liebich will be placed inside the women’s prison has yet to be made, according to the public prosecutor, who added that the prison administration would decide whether the convict could pose a threat to security and order and should be moved to another facility.
Euronews reports that Sven Liebich changed his gender and first name by making a “simple declaration” to the registry office in Schkeuditz in north-west Saxony, thanks to the Self-Determination Act.
