A convicted German transgender right-wing extremist, who has been on the run for months, has been arrested in the Czech Republic. Liebich was arrested on the basis of a European arrest warrant in Krásná in the east of the country, some 100km (62 miles) east of the capital, Prague. In August 2025, Marla-Svenja Liebich, formerly known as Sven, failed to appear at the prison in the German town of Chemnitz, where she was to serve an 18-month jail term.
German media reports say Liebich used to be a member of a neo-Nazi group called Blood and Honour. In July 2023, Liebich was sentenced by the Halle District Court in Saxon-Anhalt to a total of one year and six months in prison without parole for extreme right incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. Liebich appealed against the sentence and lost.
At the time she was known as Sven Liebich. A spokesperson for the Halle public prosecutor's office told the BBC that Liebich was now in custody in the Czech Republic, and she is expected to be extradited to Germany.
At the end of 2024, Liebich had her gender entry in official records changed from male to female, also changing her first name. This was based on Germany's Self-Determination Act which had just come into force, allowing people to change their gender marker and first name through a simple declaration without the need for a judicial ruling.
German media have questioned whether Liebich's transition was genuine. Last year, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused her of abusing the Self-Determination Act, stating, 'The gender change appears to be a clear case of abuse here.' According to reports, Liebich was wearing men's clothing and had a shaved head at the time of the arrest. She briefly tried to evade capture, although the spokesperson for the Halle public prosecutor's office has not commented on her appearance.
German media reports say Liebich used to be a member of a neo-Nazi group called Blood and Honour. In July 2023, Liebich was sentenced by the Halle District Court in Saxon-Anhalt to a total of one year and six months in prison without parole for extreme right incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. Liebich appealed against the sentence and lost.
At the time she was known as Sven Liebich. A spokesperson for the Halle public prosecutor's office told the BBC that Liebich was now in custody in the Czech Republic, and she is expected to be extradited to Germany.
At the end of 2024, Liebich had her gender entry in official records changed from male to female, also changing her first name. This was based on Germany's Self-Determination Act which had just come into force, allowing people to change their gender marker and first name through a simple declaration without the need for a judicial ruling.
German media have questioned whether Liebich's transition was genuine. Last year, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused her of abusing the Self-Determination Act, stating, 'The gender change appears to be a clear case of abuse here.' According to reports, Liebich was wearing men's clothing and had a shaved head at the time of the arrest. She briefly tried to evade capture, although the spokesperson for the Halle public prosecutor's office has not commented on her appearance.
