A young man named here “PI”, is sentenced by the correctional court to 12 months in prison and a fine of 500,000 CFA francs with suspended sentence. He is prosecuted for acts of flagrante delicto of theft of oxen in the locality of Baré.
On April 20, 2023, “PI” took the minibus to Bobo to visit his aunt who lives in Soumoussso. The same day, he decides to return to Bobo. On the way back, “IP” told the driver to get him off at Baré. What the driver does. Meanwhile, there are six oxen by the side of the road in the bushes. From left to right, he notices that there is no one next to the animals. So he behaves as a legitimate owner to drive the oxen to the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. Unfortunately for him, he was seen along the way by local residents.
The latter informed the head of the Village Development Council (CVD) that a suspicious individual was driving oxen that did not belong to him. The CVD in turn alerted the gendarmerie who, through a diligent investigation, got their hands on the alleged thief. He will be brought before the prosecution who prosecuted him for acts of theft provided for in article 611 of the Burkinabè penal code which says this: “Theft is defined as being the fraudulent removal of another person’s thing”. In clear terms, anyone who steals a thing (movable) that belongs to another person can be guilty of theft.
“IP” appears this June 02 at the bar to defend himself. The judge asks what he wanted to do with the oxen. “I wanted to raise them at my home”, responds the defendant.
After the instructions, the Public Prosecutor asked the court to find him guilty of the theft and sentence him to 12 months in prison and a suspended fine of 500,000 CFA francs.
The criminal court followed the prosecution in these requisitions.
Ben Alassane DAO
