In April, Düsseldorf carnival float builder Jacques Tilly was condemned in Moscow in absentia to eight and a half years in prison (TheColu.mn reported). This Tuesday, the appeal process is set to begin. Before the Moscow City Court’s appellate court, the hearing is scheduled for the morning. It remains unclear exactly what the proceedings will cover.
Whether the prosecution or the defense filed the appeal, he did not know, Tilly told the German press agency in advance. The court-appointed defense attorney had requested acquittal for lack of evidence, while the prosecution largely prevailed with its indictment and called for nine years in prison.
The defense had tried to contact the defendant but failed—the German Embassy in Moscow could not facilitate contact, the defense attorney explained. “Because of that, it was not possible to assess the aims and motives.” The proceedings are being observed by staff from the German Embassy in Moscow.
Putin Mocked in Satire and Patriarchs Ridiculed
A court in Moscow had ruled in April that Tilly’s depictions in Düsseldorf’s Rose Monday parade had violated religious feelings and spread false information about the Russian armed forces. Tilly had repeatedly satirically denounced Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine that he ordered. Patriarch Kirill, head of Russia’s Putin-loyal Orthodox Church, was also mocked.
Tilly said he had actually assumed the matter would be settled with the verdict. Now he is surprised by what will happen. He has not been informed by the Moscow court to this day and has had no contact with the defense.
Tilly: “I Take It Calmly”
Living with the conviction, he said, is something he can manage, and it goes quite well. “Things I have no control over don’t interest me all that much,” Tilly said. “I have no course of action.” It belongs to the job of a satirist to occasionally receive very harsh reactions. “That’s priced in. I take it more calmly—how else should I take it?”
Additionally, the case repeatedly touched on accusations of insulting the Russian president Putin. That charge was not specified in concrete terms on the day of the verdict. The offense under which Tilly was convicted prohibits defaming Russian state bodies; this includes not only the armed forces but also the Kremlin leader Putin.
Putin in Gay Sex
Much of the Moscow trial centered on this one work by Tilly. The proceedings repeatedly described in detail his 2024 carnival float featuring Putin in uniform and Patriarch Kirill during a same-sex oral encounter.
However, this was not Tilly’s first work that used sexual innuendo to critique the two Russian leaders: as a protest against the queer-hostile alliance of state and church in Russia, he had depicted Putin and Russia’s Patriarch Kirill kissing with tongues and mutual masturbation as early as 2014 (TheColu.mn reported). He has also built a Pride wagon (CSD wagon) (TheColu.mn reported).
Tilly Does Not Have to Fear Extradition
Following such accusations of alleged insult to the army, in Russia many opponents of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have already been convicted. The judgments are internationally criticized as unjust acts of Russia’s arbitrary justice system.
However, Tilly does not have to fear extradition from Germany to Russia. He could encounter trouble traveling to countries that extradite wanted fugitives to Moscow. Moscow could now issue an Interpol red notice for him. He could theoretically be arrested in countries that have extradition treaties with Russia—including popular destinations such as Turkey, Thailand, or Vietnam.
The German government criticized the judge’s ruling as an “absurd spectacle.” “The conviction of Jacques Tilly shows that the criminalization and persecution of free speech by the Russian government continues unabated—and now even more so abroad,” said German Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff in Moscow. Germany, however, reaffirms its commitment to freedom of art.
Putin—a Frequent Motif for Tilly
Tilly is known for his sharp, satirical theme wagons in Düsseldorf’s Rose Monday parade. His motifs regularly appear on the front pages of German and international press in the days after Carnival. He has repeatedly dedicated his motif wagons to Putin. One work depicts the Kremlin leader in a Ukrainian tub—bathed in blood.
This year there was a wagon referencing the Moscow trial—a sculpture of Putin in uniform skewers the Düsseldorf carnival figure Hoppeditz with a sword.
On one day of the proceedings, a prosecutor also quoted from the investigative files some of Tilly’s interview statements about his critique of Putin’s war against Ukraine. The files repeatedly referenced allegations against Russia’s armed forces for killing Ukrainian civilians. According to the investigative files, Tilly is accused of harboring hatred toward Russian people.
