Inmates are all set to perform in tonight’s first live Cenacle to be held at the prison through which, in another first, they will raise money for Victim Support Malta.

The initiative is the first collaboration between prison inmates and the NGO that supports victims of crime.

Emanuel Camilleri, an inmate at the Corradino Correctional Facility, and Roberta Lepre, the director of Victim Support, sat side by side against a backdrop of earthenware, scrolls and flickering candles as they talked about the performance.

“This event is very significant,” Dr Lepre said. “We do not see each other as opposites but, rather, we’re two sides of the same coin. It’s important that offenders make good for the harm they did.

“Recently, we’ve spoken a lot about the concept of restorative justice. It’s not about condemning inmates but helping them reflect and atone.”

Mr Camilleri, who is playing the part of one of Christ’s Apostles, explained that play, which the inmates wrote themselves, brings together an offender and his victim.

It begins with the Last Supper but then fast forwards into the present where a young man robs a villa and ends up leaving the owner in a wheelchair. The young man repents and is finally forgiven by the victim. The play ends with Christ enveloping the two in an embrace.

“We’re here to help Victim Support Malta,” Mr Camilleri said. “But we also want to send out the message that we need help from outside. Society needs to accept us once we’re out and not reject us as that will only result in repeat offences. Even Judas, an Apostle, betrayed Christ. We need to be given a chance.”

The initiative is a voluntary one, organised by Rise Foundation, an organisation that helps rehabilitate convicts.

The live Cenacle, which is open to the public, will be held tonight between 5.30 and 7.30pm, tomorrow between 5.30 and 9pm, on Thursday between 9 and 11.30am and between 4 and 10pm, and on Friday between 9 and 11.30am and 5.30 and 8pm.