A Dutch woman who had to inspect her own excrement as the police suspected she was carrying drugs has filed a court application claiming she was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Jennifer Koster, 36, a Dutch woman born in the Dominican Republic, said she was “treated like a dog” when she was arrested soon after her arrival in Malta on a flight from Germany.

Arrest was not justified

Times of Malta reported on her case on Wednesday.

Ms Koster, a regular visitor to Malta, was arrested at the airport last November and taken to hospital where she was internally searched for drugs.

Ms Koster said she was used to having her luggage searched for drugs whenever she came over to visit her Maltese partner. However, this time the police crossed the line. She said she had endured a vaginal examination and was given a laxative and asked to search her own excrement.

In an application filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Angie Muscat insisted their client was subjected to degrading and inhuman treatment.

They say her arrest was not justified with a reasonable suspicion that she had committed a crime. Moreover, at no point was she formally informed she was under arrest and neither was she read her rights as is usually done to arrested people, including the right of access to a lawyer prior to interrogation.

They are calling on the court to declare that their client was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment when she was forced to inspect her own excrement.

In comments to Times of Malta following the publication of the story, Police Commissioner Michael Cassar stressed that the police did not act in an abusive manner. “I assure you that nothing, absolutely nothing, was done beyond what is permitted by law. If anyone stresses the need for that, it’s me,” Mr Cassar said, adding the police had a warrant.