After a hearing that lasted all morning, the Sassari Review Court confirmed the precautionary measure of house arrest ordered by the preliminary investigations judge of the Nuoro Court against Franco Saba, as part of the investigation by the Nuoro Public Prosecutor's Office accusing the new mayor of attempted extortion.
Saba, re-elected mayor yesterday and represented by lawyer Gianluigi Mastio, was the only candidate in town and had already surpassed the 40% voter turnout threshold on Sunday.
This morning, public prosecutors Andrea Jacopo Ghironi and Riccardo Belfiori were present at the hearing before the Review Court.
Meanwhile, the investigative front is widening: the Nuoro Public Prosecutor's Office has listed Fabrizio Porcu, a former city councilor who, according to the prosecution, is the beneficiary of the alleged favor at the center of the investigation, as a suspect. Porcu, assisted by lawyer Patrizia Campus, was recently subjected to a house search and is under investigation for attempted extortion. According to the reconstruction of the investigators, coordinated by magistrates Belfiori and Ghironi, the case revolves around the denied hiring at a new BESS industrial plant in the Ottana area. After the position was awarded to another candidate from Ottana deemed more qualified, pressure was applied, culminating, according to the prosecution, in the blocking of the exceptional transport of a large transformer destined for the plant. The case is intertwined with the position of entrepreneur Raffaele De Maio (represented by Basilio Brodu), who has been placed under a residency ban. On the political-administrative level, after the seismic investigation in Ottana, citizens overwhelmingly voted for a mayor under house arrest. Voter turnout was 60.79%, up from 57.85% in the previous election five years ago, returning Saba to his third consecutive term. Saba will now be able to appoint the council, but he must do so before a possible suspension decree, which, as happened a month ago, will likely be issued by the Prefecture.
