on 19 October 2005, four days after the 15 October 2005 referendum on the new Iraqi constitution. The tribunal specifically charged the defendants with the killing of 148 Shiites from Dujail, in retaliation for the failed assassination attempt of 8 July 1982. Supporters of Saddam protested against the trial in Tikrit. After the charges were read to them, all eight defendants pleaded not guilty. While initially open to the public, the trial was closed to them on 15 March 2006, after Saddam began making political statements on the stand and an argument began between him and the presiding judge. Saddam's co-defendants were: Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, his half-brother and former chief of intelligence Taha Yassin Ramadan, former Vice-President Awad Hamed al-Bandar Al-Sa'dun, a former chief judge Abdullah Kadhem Roweed Al-Musheikhi, Al-Dujail Ba'ath party official Mizher Abdullah Roweed Al-Musheikhi, (son of Abdullah Kadhem), Al-Dujail Ba'ath party official Ali Daeem Ali, Al-Dujail Ba'ath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, Al-Dujail Ba'ath party official As in his pre-trial appearance, at the opening of the 19 October Trial Saddam appeared defiant. He rejected the tribunal's legitimacy and independence from the control of the foreign occupation. "I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect to its people, and I retain my constitutional right as the president of Iraq", Saddam declared. He added, "Neither do I recognize the body that has designated and authorized you, nor the aggression because all that has been built on false basis is false." When the judge asked for his name, Saddam refused, stating "I am the president of the Iraq". He returned the question, asking Kurdish judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, "Who are you? I want to know who you are." When Amin addressed Saddam as "the former president", Saddam objected emphatically, saying he was still the President of the Republic of Iraq and had not been deposed. The first session of Saddam's trial lasted three hours. The court adjourned the case until 28 November 2005, as some of the witnesses were too frightened to attend, and to allow the defense more time to study evidence. During an interview with the Arab news agency al-Arabiya following the opening of the trial, Saddam's eldest daughter Raghad branded the court a "farce" and claimed that her father behaved like a "lion" during the proceedings. "He would be a lion even when caged. Every honest person who knows Saddam knows that he