An appeals court in the southern Italian region of Calabria is currently examining the case against Domenico "Mimmo" Lucano.

He is the main defendant in a trial nicknamed 'Xenia', after an investigation by Italy's financial police into the management of migrant reception in Riace.

The crimes that the former Riace mayor has been accused of include criminal association, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of office.

The general prosecutor's office -- represented by assistant prosecutors general Adriana Fimiani and Antonio Giuttari -- asked for a sentence of 10 years and 5 months in prison for Lucano, who was mayor of the town of Riace in southern Italy between 2004 and 2018.

A court in Locri had previously sentenced Lucano to 13 years and 2 months in prison.

Riace: A model for welcoming refugees, migrants

Under the leadership of Lucano, Riace -- a small town in southern Italy -- became known as a positive model for welcoming refugees and migrants and was praised even abroad.

The trial against him and a group of other defendants began after an investigation by Italian financial police.

Lucano was not present at the latest court date, only his legal team, according to Italian media reports.

The appeals trial against Lucano began with the reopening of the preliminary investigation ordered by the court under Giancarlo Bianchi after being requested by Lucano's legal team, Andrea D'aqua and Giuliano Pisapia, who also deposited a 50-page legal opinion written by consultant Antonio Milicia.

This document contains a new transcription of five wiretaps -- including ones not examined during the first trial -- and an audio CD of the dialogue.

The most important evidence is a wiretap of a conversation between Lucano and an official at the prefect's office, Salvatore Del Giglio, which had previously not been taken into consideration. Lucano's lawyers said that this evidence could "change the result of the trial."

Lucano's lawyers: 'Crimes he was accused of did not happen'

In the appeals trial, Lucano's attorneys stressed that the ex-mayor's aim was "in line with what was reported in the SPRAR handbooks: reception and integration. There is not a single thing that emerged in the debate (wiretaps included) from which it can be deduced that Lucano had been acting for any other ends." (SPRAR is an acronym that refers to Italy's reception system for asylum seekers and refugees.)

"It was a calm closing statement. The assistant prosectors general partially agreed with the points raised by us as Mimmo Lucano's defense team against the first-degree sentence. On other points we do not share either the requests or the motivations," Lucano's lawyer Pisapia (who is also sitting in the EU parliament as a representative for the Democratic Party) said.

"Now we will begin the defense," he added. "We are confident that the sentence will be in favor of (Lucano.)"

D'aqua, the former mayor's other attorney, said that "in our intervention, we will explain the reasons for our appeal and clearly hope for a positive outcome since we have always believed that the crimes that Mimmo Lucano was accused of did not take place."