Appearing in court, Odion Grace stated that
she rejects the charges levied against her; she said
those girls came out of their own will to prostitute
themselves; that she checked with them to make
sure that was the reason why they were coming
before sending CFA F 800,000 (eight hundred
thousand) to a driver as transport allowance for
each of them; that this is the amount she asked
them to repay her; that she knew the money they
paid her was from prostitution; that the girls told
her they came to Burkina Faso to become sex
workers, that she provides them with food and
shelter;
To reply to the statement of the Accused,
G.E, M.F, P.A and B. N, kept telling the same
story in line with that of their confessional
statement, with each of them insisting on the fact
that the Accused told them they would come to
work as waitresses in
her maquis in
Ouahigouya, but upon their arrival, she got
them into prostitution and collected all the money
they achieved thereof;
When questioned on their ages, each of
them stated that the Accused and the one who got
them in touch asked them to increase their age on
their official documents to ease their travelling;
that in reality, none of them was an adult;
When asked to state what could be their
claim, G.E, M.F, P.A and B.N stated a claim for
damages parallel to prosecution amounting to the
sum of all the money given to the Accused as
reimbursement of the amount she requested from
them as well as the amount of CFA F 2,500
(two thousand five hundred) which they paid
as rent per day amounting respectively to
CFA F 100,000 (one hundred
thousand),
CFA F 80,000 (eighty thousand), CFA F
20,000 (twenty thousand), and CFA F 600,000
(six hundred thousand);
After summarizing the facts, the Legal
Department requested the accused be found guilty
of charges of pimping in flagrante delicto and
sentenced to an actual prison term of 60 (sixty)
months and actual fine of CFA F 3,000,000 (three
million);
The Accused received the floor in last
position and she requested the court’s clemency;
II- PROCEDURE
A- PROSECUTION
1. Guilt of the Accused