This Thursday (10:30 a.m. CEST), a court in Moscow is continuing the controversial criminal proceedings against the German sculptor Jacques Tilly for, among other things, alleged insults to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. In the trial, which is taking place in the defendant’s absence, the evidence and pleadings are still pending.
Judge Konstantin Otschirov had to keep setting new dates in the proceedings because sometimes the public defender didn’t show up, sometimes the witnesses were missing – and finally another prosecutor in the room said she had to familiarize herself with the case first. It is therefore unclear what could happen now.
Tilly has stated several times that he was not informed about the proceedings by the Russian judiciary. However, diplomats at the German embassy in Moscow are monitoring the process with his knowledge. The artist built carnival floats for the Düsseldorf Rose Monday procession with caricatures of Putin.
According to the court, Tilly must answer for, among other things, hurting religious feelings. He is accused of denigrating the Russian state organs, which include the Russian army and President Putin.
Already many judgments against war opponents
According to this law, this could result in a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years. Many opponents of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin have already been convicted in Russia on the basis of such accusations. The decisions have been criticized internationally as unfair judgments by the Russian arbitrary justice system.
Tilly doesn’t have to fear extradition. However, if he is convicted, he could run into problems when traveling to countries that extradite criminals wanted by Moscow to Russia. Russia could, for example, put him on notice at Interpol.
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. 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.
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 having homosexual oral sex was described in great detail several times during the trial.
Hurting religious feelings?
The tenor of the same statements were read out from three witnesses who, as devout Christians, said they felt their religious feelings had been hurt. There are high penalties for hurting religious feelings in Russia. 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 that propaganda of homosexuality – which is forbidden in Russia – is depicted with figures of, of all people, 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.
A public prosecutor also presented Tilly’s interview statements from the investigation files regarding his criticism of Putin’s war against Ukraine. There were repeated allegations against the Russian armed forces for the killing of Ukrainian civilians. According to the investigation files, Tilly is accused of hatred of Russians.
