US EditionGerman artist sentenced by Russian court for carnival display mocking Putin
The court imposed 8½ years in prison and a 200,000-rouble fine after finding the float insulted religious believers and spread false military information.
- On Thursday, April 2, 2026, Moscow's Basmanny Court sentenced German sculptor Jacques Tilly in absentia to eight years and six months in prison for spreading "false information" about the military and insulting religious believers.
- The conviction stems from a carnival float created by Tilly depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill engaging in a sexual act, based on identical testimony from three witnesses who did not appear in court.
- Ochirov also imposed a 200,000 rouble fine, approximately $2,490, and a four-year ban on website administration; these penalties remain unenforceable as the artist resides in Germany.
- Tilly dismissed the proceedings as an "authoritarian regime's propaganda trial," an assault on freedom of expression; his career has repeatedly challenged leaders including President Donald Trump through provocative satire.
- Known for his designs since 1984, the artist has previously depicted Putin in a blood-filled bathtub and biting into Ukraine; his work often targets global figures including President Tayyip Erdogan to challenge political authority.
47 Articles
47 Articles
The German sculptor Jacques Tilly has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in Moscow. He has been guilty of the violation of religious feelings and the spread of false news about the Russian armed forces, according to the controversial trial. In addition, the artist received a four-year work ban. The background is his carnival buildings, which criticise Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. In the trial, which has be…
According to Jacques Tilly, who was sentenced in absentia, it is ridiculous that a state like Russia is afraid of puppets and satirical criticism.
For 41 years, Jacques Tilly has been building Mottowagen for the Rosenmontag train. He would not have dreamed that this would bring him a trial in Moscow. In the end, the verdict in absentia was eight and a half years imprisonment.
Jacques Tilly is sentenced to prison by Russia. In an interview with this editor, the artist responds to the news.
Berliner Morgenpost
The sculptor Jacques Tilly presented Putin on a carnival car as a cardboard figure in oral traffic. For this he was now condemned in absentia.
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