CHEMNITZ, Germany — A fierce debate has erupted in Germany around a neo-Nazi provocateur who was ordered to serve time in a women’s prison after legally changing gender, and has now not shown up to serve the sentence.
Marla-Svenja Liebich, 54, was until recently a man who went by the name of Sven.
Liebich was a high-profile figure in eastern Germany’s right-wing extremist scene for decades and used to be a member of the banned Blood and Honour group, according to German media reports.
He also ran a business that sold products online that are popular with xenophobic groups, including a baseball bat with the slogan “deportation assistant.”
In 2022 he disrupted an LGBTQ pride parade in the city of Halle, calling the participants “parasites on society,” according to activists.
But in late 2024, Liebich took advantage of a new law in Germany to make it easier for people to change their legal gender, registering a new identity as a woman.
The move meant Liebich was due to be sent to a women’s prison after being sentenced to 18 months for offenses including incitement to racial hatred and slander.
The convict had been due to report to the JVA Chemnitz women’s prison on Friday to begin the sentence.
But Liebich did not show up, instead posting a message on social media with an image that said “Love from Moscow.”
“No one knew about my decision — no lawyer, no family. What’s next? An international arrest warrant,” the post said.
A police spokesman said a small crowd of Liebich’s supporters outside the prison had been sent an audio message about the apparent escape plan.
“It was announced that the person was feeling unwell and has left for another country,” the spokesman said.
The gender switch by Liebich, who started wearing lipstick, golden earrings and a leopard print top, was widely seen as intended to mock Germany’s Self-Determination Act, introduced in November 2024.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that “the judiciary, the public and politicians are being made fools of here because the Self-Determination Act offers the opportunity to do so.”
The conservative minister said Germany needed to have “a debate about how clear rules against the abuse of gender reassignment can be established.”
Liebich has also claimed to have converted to Judaism and requested kosher meals and rabbinical supervision in prison.
Germany’s antisemitism commissioner, Felix Klein, condemned the move as making “a mockery not only of Jews, but of all religious people, regardless of their faith.”
The Self-Determination Act was introduced by Germany’s last government under centre-left chancellor Olaf Scholz.
It allows any adult to change their name and gender by making a simple application to their local registry office, without having to provide a reason or any medical information.
Before this, Germans who wanted to change their legal gender had to submit two psychological reports and wait for a court decision.
Germany’s new coalition government, led by the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, has pledged to review the law.
The family affairs minister, Karin Prien, said the law in its current form “contains weaknesses that could encourage targeted abuse.”
Germany must now “closely observe how the law proves itself in practice,” she said.
LGBTQ activists argue that repealing the law would lead to more discrimination.
“For transgender people, there is a risk that some of what trans activism has achieved over the past 15 years will be reversed,” the Queer Nations campaign group said.
In the Liebich case, prosecution spokesman Benedikt Bernzen said the decision to send the convict to the Chemnitz women’s jail was based on their “registered gender and place of residence.”
However, “in all cases an individual review is carried out” once a prisoner is admitted, he told AFP.
The queer rights commissioner Sophie Koch told Die Zeit weekly that there was no legal compulsion to keep Liebich in a women’s prison and warned against “falling for the tricks of right-wing agitators.”