Following the transfer of a Thuringian inmate who was still classified as male to a women’s prison in Saxony, the Chemnitz correctional facility has issued a statement about the case.
According to the facility, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis after weighing all relevant factors to determine whether placement in female or male custody—and thus possibly relocating the inmate—is indicated. It was noted that, under Saxon law, inmates can still be transferred to another correctional facility even after their admission.
This was most recently the case with neo-Nazi Sven “Marla Svenja” Liebich. Although Liebich is officially identified as a woman, the institution leadership in Chemnitz decided last week to move him to a men’s prison (Queer.de reported). In 2025 it became public that Liebich had changed the gender marker from male to female, a move critics described as provocative. Liebich was still a man in 2023 when he was sentenced to prison for, among other charges, incitement to hatred.
Individual cases are generally not comparable
From the statement issued by the Chemnitz correctional facility, it is clear that Liebich’s case, due to its “individualized handling,” cannot be compared with the transfer of the transgender woman from Thuringia.
In the Saxon correctional act, it is stated that prisoners of different sexes should generally be housed separately. However, the law allows deviations in individual cases, requiring consideration of, among other things, the inmate’s personality and needs, as well as the security and order of the facility, including the needs of the other prisoners.
Additionally, the JVA Chemnitz added that protecting inmates from assaults by other inmates is a crucial factor in deciding where to house them, regardless of the convicted person’s gender. The offenses for which the person was convicted would also play a role in the decision.
Official gender designation changed during imprisonment
The individual now relocated had officially changed their gender designation during their incarceration in Thuringia. They were sentenced to several years in prison for sexual abuse, according to information from the Thüringer Allgemeine. The move to a women’s prison occurred due to a provisional order from the Erfurt District Court’s Prison Execution Chamber, as previously reported by the CDU-led Thuringia Ministry of Justice. Details on the case are not publicly known.
Thuringia itself has no dedicated facilities for housing female inmates. An agreement with a neighboring state allows women convicted in Thuringia to serve their sentences at the women’s prison in Saxony. The ministry said such a transfer like the current one had not occurred before in Thuringia. Among others, Thuringia’s Justice Minister Beate Meißner (CDU) reacted to the case of the trans woman moved to Chemnitz by calling for tightening the Self-Determination Law (SBGG) as it relates to gender designation. The CDU has long opposed the SBGG and, since its passage by the governing coalition, mounted criticism against it. LGBTQ+ organizations, by contrast, praise the SBGG as a law that, after years of external control, finally ensures transgender people have self-determination.
