Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by / Gönna Ketels
00:30 Jacques Tilly / Artist
01:18 Jacques Tilly / Artist
01:57 Jacques Tilly / Artist

Script:

00:00
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin facing off  – with Europe caught in between. The US President striking at Christian values. These carnival floats don’t just entertain; they take aim at those in power. This year, Düsseldorf's Rose Monday parade unfolded against a serious backdrop: Jacques Tilly, the artist behind these works, has been accused in a Moscow court of defaming President Putin. 
 
00:27-49
+++ SOT Jacques Tilly, Artist (German) +++ 
"Of course we'll keep going. We can't let ourselves be intimidated. That's the whole point of this trial: to scare people, to silence them, to make them tone down their criticism. I can't give in to that. Absolutely not, that'd be absurd. Because this isn't just an attack on me; it's an attack on the freedom of all of us."  

00:50-01:16
Rose Monday parades in strongholds like Germany's Rhineland are a tradition that dates back to the 1800s, when Carnival became a way to mock authorities. 

Jacques Tilly has shaped Germany's Carnival for decades, targeting political leaders across the globe. 

His floats are built in Düsseldorf's Wagenbauhalle. Tilly and his team work under strict secrecy on the satirical motto floats. 

01:17-01:25
+++ SOT Jacques Tilly, Carnival artist (German) +++ 
"I look at what's dominating the current political debate. But I'm not creating work just for an educated elite, it speaks for everyone. So it needs simple images and instantly recognizable figures."

01:26-01:55
Putin has been a recurring figure in Tilly's art. In December 2025, Russian authorities accused him of discrediting the Russian army and spreading false information – charges that could mean years in a Russian prison. Since Tilly is in Germany, he'd only face arrest if he travels to countries with extradition agreements with Russia. It's the first time that Russia is putting a German citizen on trial in absentia for artwork created in Germany. 

01:56-02:17
+++SOT Jacques Tilly, Artist (German) +++ 
"I haven't received a letter, a summons, an invitation, not even a phone call from my supposed court-appointed lawyer. Nothing at all. By now, I almost find the trial amusing.  Putin is making himself look ridiculous, lashing out at papier-mâché figures with the full force of the courts and the state." 

02:18
He'd rather take a swing at the figures himself: The floats are dismantled on the day after the parade. Meanwhile, the Russian case against Jacques Tilly is pending. Since the charges were filed in December, the trial has been postponed several times.

END