The Düsseldorf car manufacturer Jacques Tilly presented a new sculpture of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. It shows Putin in prison clothing and with blood on his hands.
The new figure is scheduled to be brought to The Hague on Monday. Activists critical of the regime want to demonstrate there on Tuesday in front of the International Court of Justice on the occasion of Putin’s inauguration in Moscow.
Demand: Putin should go to court
Putin has been one of the most popular targets of Tilly’s biting satire for many years. He has already been the subject of one of his theme floats in the Düsseldorf Rose Monday procession more than ten times. The new figure is intended to visually illustrate and get to the heart of the demand to bring Putin before the international court.
“This figure consolidates the opinion that Putin is not an elected president, but a war criminal who belongs in court or in prison,” Tilly explained his motive at the introduction.
Tilly figures have been at anti-Putin protests for years
According to Tilly, dissident activists from Russia became aware of him and his Putin figure in 2021. At that time, he portrayed Putin’s harshest public critic, the late Alexei Navalny, as a karate fighter who kicked the Putin figure in the soft parts.
The figure was not torn down as usual on the day after Shrove Monday, but instead traveled halfway around the world to various protest actions. The Tilly car on which Putin is supposed to suffocate in Ukraine was also prominently seen at many solidarity rallies after the start of the Russian war of aggression.
Sources:
Jacques TillyFree Russia NRW