Everything has been postponed until October: on the 13th of next month, the First Section of the Administrative Court of Sardinia will rule on the legitimacy of the appointments to the Ottana municipal council. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these appointments could not be made given that the mayor, re-elected last June, Franco Saba, was under house arrest.
The Department of Internal Affairs and the Prefecture of Nuoro had filed an appeal with the Regional Administrative Court (TAR), which ruled on July 22nd with a decree granting the request for a single judge's precautionary measure, suspending the effectiveness of the appointments until today's council chamber, which decided to adjourn the hearing until October. Defending the interests of the Municipality are lawyers Antonello Rossi and Claudio Contu.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Giovanni Basolu, appointed by the Region, had arrived in Ottana.
Franco Saba was re-elected mayor last June with 60.8% of the vote (he was the only candidate), while under house arrest on charges—denied by the suspect—of attempted extortion . Shortly before his suspension from office, pursuant to the Severino law, he had appointed the municipal council via certified email, and the municipality had not been placed under special administration because it was governed by the deputy mayor.
Then the ministry appealed to the Regional Administrative Court (TAR), raising doubts about the appointments. Meanwhile, Saba was jailed due to the aggravated precautionary measure ordered by the Nuoro investigating judge, who charged him with eight violations, including wiretapped telephone conversations and two alleged escapes. After a brief stint in prison, the mayor was returned to house arrest .