![Former prime minister Joseph Muscat makes his way into law courts in Valletta, Malta on May 28, surrounded by supporters. Muscat was charged with with serious crimes over the Vitals hospitals scandal](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/KRRMF3OGTZHUAH5CO3QN6366XI-645x645.jpg)
VALLETTA, Malta — The most sweeping corruption trial in the history of this Mediterranean country kicked off with a former prime minister and a host of top government officials parading through a phalanx of police into a courthouse.
Hundreds of onlookers crammed narrow cobblestone streets, some screaming of their distrust in the government and disdain for the men who allegedly used their power to line their pockets. A throng of supporters bellowed about a witch hunt and a sham trial, and shouted at local journalists.
Over the course of eight hours one weekday late last month, a judge methodically rattled off formal charges against the high-powered defendants. Seventy-eight cardboard boxes of prosecution evidence sat below her bench. Though the proceedings were in Maltese, she repeated three English words over and over: Steward Health Care.
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