Apr 03, 2026

Offending religious sensibilities and spreading false information about the Russian armed forces: Düsseldorf carnival performer Tilly has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison by a Moscow court. He was not present.

A court in Moscow has sentenced German sculptor and carnivalist Jacques Tilly in absentia to eight years and six months in prison. Judge Konstantin Ochirov ruled in the controversial trial that Tilly was guilty of offending religious sensibilities and spreading false information about the Russian armed forces.

The background is the carnival floats built by Tilly, which criticize Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and the war he ordered against Ukraine.

Tilly reacts to the verdict with biting mockery.

Tilly is known for his biting satirical floats in Düsseldorf’s Rose Monday parade. His designs regularly appear on the front pages of German and international newspapers in the days following Carnival. He has dedicated several of his floats to Putin.

Tilly himself reacted to the conviction with biting sarcasm: “Now everyone can see that the Russian regime is afraid of cardboard cutouts,” he told the German Press Agency (dpa). “They’re making fools of themselves with this verdict and don’t even realize how embarrassing it actually is – how afraid they are of satirical criticism.”

The prosecution had requested a nine-year prison sentence. The prosecutor told the court that Tilly’s guilt had been proven by witness testimony. She also demanded a fine of several thousand euros and a four-year ban on internet activity.

A float themed around Russian President Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church will be driven in the Rose Monday parade.

German Embassy sharply criticizes verdict

The artist’s court-appointed lawyer demanded an acquittal due to lack of evidence. She stated that the defense had unsuccessfully attempted to contact the defendant through the German embassy. His position had not been heard in court, she said. Tilly had repeatedly stated that he had not been informed about the proceedings by the Russian judiciary. However, diplomats from the German embassy in Moscow are monitoring the trial with his knowledge.

The German embassy in Moscow sharply criticized the verdict. “The conviction of Jacques Tilly shows that the criminalization and persecution of free speech by the Russian government continues unabated – but now also increasingly abroad. This directly affects us,” Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told the German Press Agency (dpa) in Moscow. “The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany condemns this absurd spectacle in the strongest possible terms and will continue to advocate for freedom of expression, artistic freedom, and thus also the freedom of satire.”

German politicians: Russia is attacking democracy

The German Foreign Office also rejected the verdict as a “criminalization of art and satire.” Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Serap Güler, spoke of a “clearly politically motivated trial with the expected conviction.”

Several German politicians joined in the criticism. The trial seemed like an attempt to criminalize the core of democratic public discourse – “namely, questioning power with humor,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Deputy Minister-President Mona Neubaur.

For Nathanael Liminski, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister for European Affairs and Head of the State Chancellery, the verdict demonstrates the weakness of the Russian system. It is “another damning indictment of a regime that apparently fears freedom of thought even more than armed force,” said the CDU politician.

No extradition to fear

Following such accusations of allegedly defaming the army, many opponents of Putin’s ordered invasion of Ukraine have already been convicted in Russia. These decisions are internationally criticized as unjust verdicts by the Russian arbitrary justice system.

Tilly does not have to fear extradition from Germany to Russia. However, he could face problems if convicted when traveling to countries that extradite criminals wanted by Moscow to Russia. Moscow could, for example, issue an Interpol warrant for his arrest.

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/tilly-urteil-moskau-100.html