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.
