Once the investigation was completed, D.L, in her civil
claim for damages demanded that the accused be
sentenced to pay her a nominal sum as damages;
After having summarised the facts, the Legal Department
requested the acquittal of the accused on the benefit of doubt;
In his addresses, the counsel for the accused, Mr. BELEM
Soumaïla, requested the acquittal of his client and asked that
D.L be sentenced to pay him the sum of CFAF 300 000 (three
hundred thousand) for the expenses incurred and excluding
the costs; he also requested that the court reject the victim's
request for damages as being unfounded;
In response, Barrister SOME Olivier, the victim's lawyer,
stated that considering documentary evidence in the case file and
the court proceedings, he is firmly convinced that the accused
perpetrated the acts he is accused of because there was pressure
and harassment;
Being given the floor in last position, the accused
continued claiming his innocence;
Thereupon, the proceedings were adjourned for judgement
to be delivered on 22 January 2020; on the set date, after having
deliberated in accordance with the law, the Court proceeded to
deliver the following judgement;
II- PROCEDURE
A- PROSECUTION
Whereas P.S.M is prosecuted for acts of sexual harassment
pursuant to Article 533- 9 of the Penal Code; whereas according
to this article, “sexual harassment is the act of imposing on a
person, in a repeated manner, words or behaviour with a
sexual connotation that either violates his/her dignity
because of their degrading or humiliating character, or creates an
intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against him/her.
Sexual harassment is the act, even if not repeated, of using any
form of serious pressure, with the real or apparent aim of obtaining
an act of a sexual nature, for oneself or for the benefit of a third
party”; In the light of this provision, the constitution of the offence
presupposes either a repeatedly imposing on the victim, sexual
comments or behaviour, the violating their dignity or creating an
intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against them, or the
use of serious pressure to obtain an act of a sexual nature and a
criminal intent;
Whereas in the case at hand, it emerges from the
proceedings that the accused recruited D.L as a nonpermanent teacher for the 2016-2017 school year; whereas it is
established that there was sexual intercourse between them in
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