Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1521430
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 MAY 2024 NEWS Before entering the court building, Muscat turned towards his supporters, clenched his fist and punched the air before entering the soberer atmosphere inside the law court. Valletta's streets were character- ised by a heavier than usual police presence in anticipation of the crowds. Journalists were also given individual security detail as a precautionary meas- ure. Bar the occasional insults directed mostly towards journalists from the Nationalist Party's media, no incidents were reported. Meanwhile, inside court the accused, their lawyers and relatives were accom- modated in the largest hall, normally reserved for jury trials, where Magis- trate Rachel Montebello presided. The Vitals inquiry was concluded at the end of April and subsequently the Attorney General and police charged by summons all those indicated by the magistrate. The case concerns a flagship project of the Muscat administration when three public hospitals – St Luke's, Gozo Gen- eral and Karin Grech – were granted on concession to Vitals Global Healthcare, a company with dubious investors. The concession was granted in 2015 on the premise that the private compa- ny would invest in a new state of the art hospital in Gozo, refurbish St Luke's and Karin Grech and attract medical tour- ism. With none of the major milestones met, VGH ran into trouble and by 2018 the concession was transferred to Amer- ican company Steward Health Care. Government paid out some €400 mil- lion to the private investors as part of its obligations but last year the civil courts annulled the contract, labelling it fraud- ulent. The Vitals inquiry was initiated in 2019 on the behest of NGO Repubblika. Repubblika's former president Robert Aquilina and the NGO's lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who had drafted the lengthy submissions that kick-started the in- quiry, were present in court yesterday. They were escorted to the building by police and entered through the main door. The inquiry took four years to com- plete and €11 million were spent on it. On Sunday, MaltaToday exclusively published the 1,200-page inquiry report in full, citing the public's right to know the full truth as a reason for its decision. Additional reporting: Karl Azzopardi, Matthew Farrugia, Matthew Agius Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri hero's welcome outside courthouse Manuel Cuschieri (in centre in black shirt) was the first to call for a show of support for Muscat Konrad Mizzi Keith Schembri