Prisoner convicted of assault to be released by Jesús El Rico brotherhood during Holy Week in Malaga

A prisoner serving a sentence for offences of assault and making threats will be the inmate released this year by Nuestro Padre Jesús El Rico.

This solemn ceremony is held on Easter Wednesday on the steps of Malaga Cathedral, in keeping with a deeply rooted Holy Week tradition dating back to the 18th century.

The pardon of José R. C. was approved on Tuesday at the weekly meeting of cabinet ministers, at the request of Félix Bolaños, the minister of the presidency, justice and relations. The announcement was published on Wednesday in the official state gazette (BOE), as consulted by SUR.

José R. C. was convicted by the criminal court in Malaga, by judgment dated 13 March 2024, as the perpetrator of an offence of bodily harm. He was sentenced to a term of one year and six months’ imprisonment. The court also sentenced him to one year's imprisonment for the crime of threatening behaviour, for acts committed in 2020, according to the BOE.

The court further imposed a prohibition on approaching the injured party within a distance of less than 500 metres and on communicating with the said party by any means whatsoever for a period of four years.

In the agreement to grant the pardon, the reports of the sentencing court and the public prosecutor's office have been considered and it has been considered that "in view of the circumstances of the convicted person and according to the information contained in the aforementioned file, there are reasons of justice and equity to pardon José R. C. to the custodial sentences pending, on condition that he does not commit a criminal offence again within three years of the publication of the royal decree".

It will be during the procession on Wednesday 1 April that the prisoner will regain his freedom in an act before the images of Jesús El Rico and the Virgen del Amor at the doors of the cathedral.

The tradition of releasing a prisoner in Malaga is based on a royal decree issued by King Carlos III following an outbreak of plague that severely affected the population of Malaga and led to the suspension of the Holy Week processions in 1759. The inmates of Malaga prison asked the governor for permission to carry the image of El Rico, to which they declared themselves devoted.

When their request was denied, they rioted, escaped from the prison and carried the Christ through the streets of the city on their shoulders, afterwards returning to the prison. This act became the longest procession remembered during Malaga’s Holy Week.