The political prisoner himself reported this in a letter to his support group.

“Absurd, I can’t stand ISIS. And the accusation about the Vlasovites is just a stretch. I don’t actually know in detail who or how I supposedly ‘justified’ there. They cobbled together a fake case, and now I’m the guilty one,” writes Rowza. He adds that while the authorities are drafting charges, he himself is writing songs about love.

“‘You are my whole life and my light. Without you I am no one. Without you I don’t exist.’ These are lines from a song I haven’t written yet, although the melody already exists. I’m not writing out the notes so as not to provoke my captors, since enough attention is already on me. I’m not afraid of them, of course, but there’s no need to push things. Once I get to phone you and sing my three songs, please help me write out the notes. Thanks in advance,” adds Rowza.

The prosecution of Richard Rowza

In 2023, Rowza was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army and justifying terrorism, due to his posts about the war and the comment: “There’s only one way to stop Putler—to kill him physically”.

Rowza was arrested in April 2022. He reported that after his detention he was beaten in the FSB building. In pre-trial detention, Rowza gave a confession after security officers threatened to arrest his wife, send his son to an orphanage, and create unbearable conditions for him in custody. One of the FSB officers also promised to “cut [him] off from all channels of communication”.

A “fake news” case was also opened against his wife, Maria Rowza—over her posts about events in Bucha. She was later also charged with inciting extremism. A few months later, Maria Rowza, who was not placed under arrest during the investigation, left Russia with their son. She was sentenced in absentia to five and a half years in a penal colony.