Somali model says Belgian police treated her like 'prostitute': reports

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Belgian police on Tuesday rejected accusations from Somali-born model and human rights campaigner Waris Dirie, who briefly went missing last week, that they treated her like a prostitute.

Dirie, a UN ambassador in the campaign against female genital mutilation, said police threatened to put her in jail when she asked for help to find her hotel after leaving a nightclub, Austria's Kurier daily reported Tuesday.

"They treated me like a prostitute," the naturalised Austrian was reported to have said in comments filmed as part of a documentary being made about her.

She also said her requests for help at two police stations were ignored "because of the colour of her skin," another Austrian daily said.

She is currently hospitalised in...