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

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