The trial involving Düsseldorf coachbuilder and satirist Jacques Tilly will resume next Tuesday, June 9th, at 9:30 AM Moscow time. This update was provided to “Rheinische Post”.
Earlier this year, in April, Tilly had been found guilty by a Moscow court, receiving an eighteen-and-a-half-year prison sentence alongside a fine of €2,164. However, a revision procedure has since been launched, meaning the case will be retried before a different court. “This is annoying; I really thought it was over and would stop costing me emotional energy,” Tilly commented on the development.
According to Tilly himself, he knows very little about how the process is progressing, aside from the new hearing date. He stated that he does not know who filed the appeal or the reasons behind it. “I don’t know the motives and I also don’t know where this came from,” he said, opting to wait until Tuesday’s session to learn more. His information regarding the proceedings was conveyed by the Foreign Office.
The charges against Tilly stemmed from alleged defamation of Russian state institutions, including the military and President Vladimir Putin. The incident giving rise to the case occurred when one of his float vehicles participated in the Düsseldorf Rose Monday parade. Initially, he had not received official notification about the process; moreover, he deliberately chose not to retain legal representation in Moscow at the start of the trial so as not to legitimize the proceedings.
