A Dutch woman who was made to search her own excrement for drugs has lost her case against the police over her claim that they violated her human rights.

Even though no drugs were found, the judge ruled that the police acted on a reasonable suspicion given that the woman’s boyfriend was a suspected drug trafficker.

Jennifer Koster claimed she had been subjected to inhumane treatment by the police after she was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of drug trafficking.

She told the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction that she had been arbitrarily detained and kept under arrest for 16 hours despite repeatedly insisting that she was not carrying drugs.

The woman, born in the Dominican Republic, also claimed she was not told about her rights on arrest. Koster was taken to Mater Dei Hospital where she was subjected to intimate searches.

She told Times of Malta in 2015 that she felt “treated like a dog” when she was forced to endure a vaginal examination and given a laxative before being asked to search her own excrement.

The court heard that the police had their eyes on Koster every time she came to Malta to visit her partner, Charlie Zammit, whom the police were treating as a suspected drug trafficker. They suspected that Koster was bringing in drugs for Zammit.

The pair were arrested by plainclothes policemen who followed them to Mrieħel from the airport. Koster was immediately told the reasons for her arrest and informed that she was a suspected drug mule, the police told the court.

Her rights were also read to her in English. She denied any involvement and cooperated with the arresting officers.

At Mater Dei Hospital, an X-ray was taken of her stomach and the radiographer told the police that he could not exclude any foreign objects inside the abdomen.

She was then administered a laxative as female police officers monitored her every move.

Koster was then given as a disposable plastic apron as a glove to search for any drugs. However, no drugs were found and she was released from arrest.

Mr Justice Joseph Micallef found the woman had not been detained for more than the prescribed period of 48 hours and that the police had a good enough reason to keep her under constant watch.

Moreover, while she could have felt embarrassed, an intimate medical examination by a doctor of a different gender did not constitute inhuman or degrading treatment.

The court noted that the arrest and search warrant had been authorised by a magistrate who based it on reasonable suspicion that her Maltese boyfriend was trafficking drugs and that she could have been an accomplice.

Mr Justice Micallef said that according to evidence presented in court, the police had good enough reasons to keep the woman under arrest.

The fact that the couple had driven to an industrial zone instead of their home made the police even more suspicious.  

The court dismissed the case and ruled that Koster had not been subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment.

The police had reasonable suspicion to search her for drugs and even subject her to an intimate examination at hospital.