The carnival float builder Jacques Tilly salutes in front of one of his works.Image: keystone
April 2, 2026, 3:27 p.mApril 2, 2026, 3:27 p.m
A court in Moscow has sentenced German sculptor Jacques Tilly to eight years and six months in prison in absentia.
Tilly was guilty of hurting religious feelings and spreading false news about the Russian armed forces, judge Konstantin Otschirov ruled in the controversial criminal case. Tilly was also ordered to pay a fine of around 1,850 francs and was also banned from working for four years.
The background is the carnival floats built by Tilly, which in Germany criticize Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and the war he ordered in Ukraine. The artist has built carnival floats with caricatures of Putin several times for the Düsseldorf Rose Monday parade.
The public prosecutor had requested nine years in prison, a four-year ban on work and a fine of the equivalent of a few thousand francs. The public defender demanded an acquittal due to lack of evidence. The defense tried to contact the defendant, but failed – the German embassy in Moscow was unable to arrange contact.
“Because of this, it was not possible to assess the goals and motives,” she said. There is a lack of expertise that could confirm the allegations against Tilly and determine the subjective motives for the crimes he is accused of.
Tilly’s car at the Rose Monday parade 2024.Image: imago
In the trial, which has been going on for months, there was repeated talk of insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin. This accusation was no longer specifically made on the day of the verdict. The offense under which Tilly was convicted prohibits denigration of the Russian state organs, including the armed forces and Kremlin leader Putin.
The Moscow trial is particularly concerned with one of Tilly’s works. His carnival float from 2024 with figures of Putin in uniform and Patriarch Kirill during oral sex was described in great detail several times during the trial.
Tilly doesn’t have to fear extradition
Tilly had stated several times that he had not been informed about the proceedings by the Russian judiciary. However, diplomats at the German embassy in Moscow are monitoring the process with his knowledge.
Following such accusations of alleged denigration of the army, many opponents of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin have already been convicted in Russia. The decisions have been criticized internationally as unfair judgments by the Russian arbitrary justice system.
Tilly does not have to fear extradition from Germany to Russia. However, if he is convicted, he could run into problems when traveling to countries that extradite criminals wanted by Moscow to Russia. Moscow could, for example, put him on notice at Interpol.
Trump and Putin are swallowing Europe.Image: keystone
Hurting religious feelings?
During the trial, which lasted several months, identical statements were read out from three witnesses who, as devout Christians, said they saw their religious feelings hurt. There are high penalties for hurting religious feelings in Russia. The public prosecutor also referred to this in her plea.
The women complained that Tilly had gone too far in his criticism of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine by insulting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and President Putin.
One of the many accusations is also about propaganda of homosexuality – this is forbidden in Russia – depicted with figures of, of all things, the head of the Kremlin and the head of the church. The women said they heard about the criminal case against Tilly and then volunteered to be witnesses after watching online depictions of sexual intercourse between the characters Putin and Kirill.
Putin is always a motive for Tilly
Tilly is known for his bitingly satirical theme floats in Düsseldorf’s Rose Monday parade. His motifs appear regularly on the front pages of the German and international press in the days after Carnival. He has dedicated his theme cars to Putin several times. One work shows the Kremlin chief in a Ukrainian tub – bathing in blood.
Putin in the Ukrainian bloodbath.Image: www.imago-images.de
This year there was a float with a view of the trial in Moscow – a sculpture of Putin in uniform impales the Düsseldorf carnival figure Hoppeditz with a sword.
Tilly’s latest work.Image: keystone
On one day of the trial, a prosecutor also presented Tilly’s interview statements from the investigation files about his criticism of Putin’s war against Ukraine. There were repeated allegations against the Russian armed forces for the killing of Ukrainian civilians. (sda/dpa/nil)
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