Michael Chebud ADDIS ABABA, Oct 29 2008 (IPS) - Frozen in disbelief on the steps of the courthouse where she presided as a federal judge, Birtukan Mideksa watched as a man she had just ordered released on bail was detained by plain-clothes police with no warrant and no apparent regard for the law. Mideksa -- "The values that guide me are truth and fairness" Credit: Michael Chebsi/IPS That was in 2001. She next saw that man when she became a fellow inmate at Kaliti Federal Prison in 2004, charged with crimes serious enough to have her imprisoned for life: treason, outrage against the constitution, inciting, organising or leading armed rebellion, obstruction of the exercise of constitutional powers, impairing the defensive power of the state and attempted genocide. She claims her only true transgression was dissent. “I couldn’t stand the lack of human dignity,” said Mideksa, seated behind her desk at her poorly furnished office in central Addis Ababa. Mideks...