As Mayor of Aulla, after having approved the granting of the honorary citizenship to Bettino Craxi,[1] together with that to Giulio Andreotti and Arnaldo Forlani,[2] on 24 October 1999 Barani led a delegation of the Municipal Council to Hammamet, Tunisia to deliver it officially.

He was so briefly suspended by the prefect of Massa Carrara for having granted honorary citizenship to a man wanted by Italian justice.

At his side he erected a monument to the "Martyrs of Tangentopoli", to commemorate the politicians who died in suicide or "persecuted" during the Mani Pulite investigation.

After the numerous controversies with his party following his adhesion to the ALA group, on 5 August Barani resigned as secretary of the New PSI.

[8][9] On 14 October 2018, Barani was sentenced by the Appellate Court of Genoa to 3 years imprisonment for a double reimbursement case, dating back to when he was mayor of Villafranca.