Riace, Mimmo Lucano declared forfeited. “The appeal is ready, I will remain mayor”

The judicial ordeal begins again for Mimmo Lucano . By decision of the civil court of Locri, which accepted the appeal of the Prefecture against the resolution confirming the municipal council , the MEP of Avs, who has returned to lead Riace, must leave the mayoral sash. "It's temporary, we are already ready to appeal", says the MEP of Avs. "And if they don't agree with us, we will go all the way to the Supreme Court. I will remain mayor until the final ruling. By now I am used to fighting".

These are the aftermath of the long trial for aiding illegal immigration and other crimes that saw the reception village as a criminal system and Lucano as its leader, but ended up failing in the second degree and in the Supreme Court. The mayor of the reception village was left with only an eighteen-month suspended sentence for a botched resolution, classified as a forgery of a public document. A crime for which the Severino law does not automatically provide for forfeiture, leaving the decision to the discretionary evaluation of the Prefecture, or rather, of the Viminale.

Result: Lucano was asked to be dismissed, the City Council, as expected, rejected the request to the sender, the Prefecture insisted with an appeal. Today the court of Locri, where Lucano had received a sentence of more than 13 years that the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Cassation dismantled, agreed with them. For the judges, "the abusive exercise of power or the violation of duties inherent to a public function or a public service" would be "inherent" in the dispute that led to the conviction, therefore similar to those specifically provided for by the Severino law.

"As soon as I found out, I had a moment of despair - Lucano says - but I can't afford it. Here in Riace we are giving back the welcoming town that they wanted to destroy and I certainly don't intend to give up".

Riace, he says, is becoming a “welcoming town” again, it will soon restore the sign that made it clear at the entrance to the town, the Anti-racist World Cup will begin on July 10, then from the 20th to the 27th for a week they will discuss Palestine, in August the famous artist Laika will also arrive for a mural. “That the Viminale is against Riace, because that is what it is, I am proud. They believe in walls and hatred, this Municipality has always fought not only for integration and welcoming, but for real and concrete respect for human rights”.