A heated debate has erupted in Germany over whether a transgender woman with a far-right past should serve her sentence in a women’s or men’s prison after being convicted of inciting hatred and insulting.

According to BBC, Marla-Svenia Liebich was sentenced in July 2023 by the District Court of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt to one year and six months in prison without parole for far-right incitement to hatred, libel and slander. Her appeal was dismissed, and her case was finalised.

At the time of the trial Marla was known as Sven Liebich, with a background in the neo-Nazi organisation Blood and Honour. In late 2024, Liebih changed the gender listing on her official documents to read female instead of male, and also changed her name, based on the new Self-Determination Law that had just come into force in the country. This law allows for gender and name changes by simply making a declaration at a registry office without a court order.

The move sparked heated debate in the German media, with many questioning Marla’s motives and sincerity. Der Spiegel wrote that “it is questionable whether the change is serious,” recalling that Liebig had previously made comments against queer people. She took legal action against media outlets that questioned her identity, but the German Press Council dismissed her complaint against Der Spiegel as unfounded.

The prosecutor general of Halle, Dennis Chernota, told public television MDR that Libich will report to the women’s prison in Chemnitz to begin her sentence. She confirmed this in a post on X, writing: “On August 29, 2025, at 10 p.m., I will go to the Kemnich penitentiary with my luggage.”

The final decision on where she will serve her sentence will be made after her arrival. If the prison management deems that her presence may undermine security and order, she may be transferred to another facility.

Libih was recently defeated in another legal battle, this time with journalist Yulian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of Nius. Reichelt wrote in X in July that “anyone who follows the coverage of neo-Nazi Sven Liebig comes to one conclusion: the German government has succeeded by law in forcing almost all media to report inaccuracies. Sven Liebig is not a woman.”

The Berlin District Court rejected Liebich’s request for a temporary restraining order against Reichelt, finding her appeal unfounded.