The prefect of Reggio Calabria Clara Vaccaro has suspended Mimmo Lucano from the functions of mayor of Riace which will be carried out by the deputy mayor. The Prefecture communicated this with a note sent to the mayor himself and, for information, to the deputy mayor and to the municipal secretary. The notification of the measure was also communicated to the city councilors and the members of the municipal council.
The decision follows the recent sentence with which the Court of Appeal of Reggio Calabria rejected Lucano’s complaint against the sentence issued in 2025 by the Court of Locri which declared Lucano’s dismissal as mayor following the 18-month sentence for forgery, with a suspended sentence, remedied in the «Xenia» trial, born from an investigation into the alleged offenses in the management of the reception of migrants in the small town of Locride.
The suspension, writes the prefect, was adopted “by virtue of the immediate enforceability of the appeal judge’s ruling”. The Court of Locri, in July 2025, accepted the appeal of the Prefecture on the disqualification of Lucano for the sentence he had received. Conviction which for the Prefecture falls within the case of the Severino law, becoming a cause of ineligibility which, intervening after the election, which took place in June 2024, provides for a particular procedure before the actual forfeiture. After the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Reggio Calabria, the lawyers of the mayor and MEP of Avs, the lawyers Andrea Daqua and Giuliano Saitta, have announced that they will appeal to the Court of Cassation. However, while waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision, the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria has decided to suspend Domenico Lucano from his duties as mayor.
Lucan’s reaction
«I take note of the suspension ordered by the prefecture following the appeal ruling in the proceedings regarding my disqualification. Obviously I will appeal to the Supreme Court because I have no other solution. We are obliged to always hope for something called true justice”, stated Mimmo Lucano after the note sent by the prefecture to the mayor of Riace himself.