Four-Day Prison Leave Granted to a Member of 'La Manada'

The Penitentiary Surveillance Court number five of Castilla y León has granted a four-day leave authorized by the Penitentiary Institutions to Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo, one of the young men from Seville who are members of the WhatsApp group 'La Manada'. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison for the continuous rape of a young woman during the 2016 Sanfermines. Cabezuelo is serving his sentence at the Topas prison (Salamanca) for these crimes, as well as an additional prison sentence for sexually abusing a young woman in Pozoblanco (Córdoba) in May 2016, as reported by the newspaper ABC.

The same sources indicated that the decision to grant this prison leave stems from the inmate's demonstrated conduct while serving his sentence, highlighting aspects such as completing a degree in Psychology and his participation in various reintegration programs. This decision was communicated on June 13.

It should be recalled that in September 2023, Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo released an open letter following the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of Navarra (TSJN) to reduce the prison sentence of fellow 'La Manada' member Ángel Boza from 15 to 14 years for the Pamplona events, namely the Sanfermines rape, due to the application of Law 10/2022 on comprehensive sexual freedom guarantees, known as the 'only yes is yes' law. This law has led to more than a thousand sentence reductions due to the unification of abuse and sexual assault offenses into a single category and the legislative principle that when two penal norms of different temporal validity collide, the more favorable penalty for the defendant should be applied.

Subsequently, two other members of 'La Manada', specifically José Ángel Prenda and Jesús Escudero, received the same sentence reduction from 15 to 14 years in prison for the Pamplona events, also thanks to Law 10/2022 on comprehensive sexual freedom guarantees, known as the 'only yes is yes' law.

In this context, Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo emphasized in his open letter that his "desire is to serve the 15-year prison sentence" imposed on him for the Pamplona events, as he was also sentenced to an additional prison term for the Pozoblanco case; "in the very terms in which the sentence was issued and to achieve reintegration," a goal he claims to be "firmly committed to" since his imprisonment.

"It is not my intention to participate, either personally or, even less so through any professional not authorized by me, in any type of forum or media debate that could only cause more harm than I have already caused," he asserted, clarifying that lawyer Agustín Martínez Becerra, who requested the aforementioned sentence reductions, has not represented him since January 2021.

Additionally, Cabezuelo elaborated that since the Supreme Court's final ruling on the 15-year prison sentence, he has always been committed to "staying away from any type of controversy or moral, social, or legal debate that may have arisen around it," and his intention is to "continue maintaining this stance."