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A court of first instance in the Calabrian city of Locri on Tuesday, banned the mayor of the Calabrian town of Riace, Mimmo Lucano, from office. The mayor has said he will not step down before the sentence is confirmed in the highest court of appeal, and that his "resistance continues."

On Tuesday, (July 1), a court of first instance in the Calabrian city of Locri in southern Italy, on Tuesday, July 1, banned the mayor of the Calabrian town of Riace, Mimmo Lucano, from office.

The ban has been applied retroactively based on an 18-month prison term handed to him in a previous trial. The sentence was issued following allegations he made false declarations in public office in relation to the application of his migrant hosting policies.

The Italian justice system has the potential for at least three levels of trial and appeals before a case arrives at a final verdict. So this latest ban could yet be appealed and overturned if another court were to come to different conclusions.

Lucano, who is also a member of the European Parliament with the Green-Left Alliance (AVS), earned fame for integrating migrants and repopulating the small town of Riace in Calabria according to the so-called 'Riace Model'.

Retroactive law

The Locri court's ruling was based on the Severino law, named after former justice minister Paola Severino, which allows politicians to be banned from public office if convicted of certain crimes.

The Severino law allows politicians to be barred from office if convicted of certain crimes. In this case, they used Lucano's conviction for allegedly making false declarations while in public office, where they said he had mismanaged the integration of migrants in the Calabrian town.

The Severino law, which is retroactive, states that people convicted of certain crimes cannot run for office and that MPs, government representatives, regional councillors, mayors and local administrators are automatically barred from holding office if they are found guilty of those crimes.

'The resistance continues'

Following the sentence on Tuesday, Italian MEP and Riace Mayor Domenico (Mimmo) Lucano said he was not stepping down for the moment. "The resistance continues. I am used to it at this point and I am not surrendering," he said.

Lucano made the announcement after hearing about the court's sentence on Tuesday.

Lucano, 67, settled 450 refugees in Riace, a town of 1,800 inhabitants, revitalising it and preventing the closure of the local school. His policies gained him recognition worldwide, and he came second in the 2010 World Mayor Competition and was named 40th in a Fortune poll of the world's greatest leaders in 2016.

He served as Riace mayor from 2004 to 2018 and was re-elected its first citizen last year, when he also won a seat for the Green-Left Alliance in the European elections.

Lucano said he will carry on as mayor until his conviction becomes definitive, if the supreme Cassation Court upholds it.

The current sentence

In the sentence, the civil court of Locri ruled in favor of a request to bar Lucano from office filed by the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria after he was convicted for one of the 19 charges originally pressed against him over the management of migrants and asylum seekers.

The charge of false statements, for which Lucano was convicted, concerns one of the 57 municipal deliberations probed by prosecutors in Locri.

This felony led the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria to request Lucano's suspension based on the fact that it allegedly made him unfit to run and thus hold public office.

In particular, the sentence published on Tuesday said that "the conduct attributed to Lucano concerns a type of crime that is necessarily related to public office and in violation of the duties attributed to that office."

A long legal process

Lucano was convicted by a first instance court of a series of felonies over his management of migrants and asylum seekers and initially sentenced to 13 years, two months in jail in 2021.

An appeals court struck down nearly all those charges in 2023. In February this year, the Cassation Court upeld a suspended 18-month prison term for false statements.

During the civil trial, Lucano's defense team -- attorneys Andrea Daqua and Giuliano Saitta -- opposed the request filed by the Prefecture to remove Lucano from office, claiming the charge of false statements was not included in the list of felonies barring politicians from holding public office under the Severino law.

According to the defense lawyers, the legislation "also requires, in addition to a conviction and a prison term of over six months, to concretely determine that abuse of power or the violation of duties related to public office or public service were committed."

Lucano commented on the sentence saying that "the only crime I can be accused of is proposing a human solution against a storyline justifying border protection and the perception of immigrants as enemies." He added that immigrants and asylum seekers "were instead precious citizens for Riace". Lucano explained that he will appeal the sentence which he slammed as "absolutely unfair."