A Cambridge MPhil graduate has claimed to have been attacked in an alleged incident of “racially-motivated police brutality,” when she was arrested for a traffic infraction in the Hague last week, but the allegations are highly disputed by the Dutch police.

Chaka Laguerre, an international lawyer currently on a 10-month internship at the United Nation’s (UN) International Court of Justice (ICJ) was stopped by Dutch policemen after walking her bike across the street on a red light. She was unable to provide ID when the police officers asked for it.

She claims that she was consequently “brutalised, arrested and thrown into jail.”

In a Facebook post, Laguerre said she had to go to hospital with injuries from her altercation with the officers. She wrote that the police began “aggressively pulling on and bending my arms in multiple directions behind my back, banging me against the car, beating on my legs, pushing into my back, stepping on me, handcuffing me, and trying to drag me into the car.”

After being put in jail, Laguerre was eventually allowed to call colleagues from the ICJ, released, and ordered to pay a fine for the traffic offence.

The Dutch police department has confirmed that Laguerre was arrested, but in a statement they issued, they deemed the allegations of racist and violent police action “unjustified”.

The police have also disputed her claims on the basis of CCTV footage. They maintain, however, that it was necessary to take her to the police station because she “kept resisting”.

In the Netherlands, police officers have the right to ask to see proof of identity of anyone on the street. Failure to provide such identification makes the individual liable to prosecution: the individual may be taken to the police station to establish their identity, or they may have to pay a fine.

Regarding crossing the road at a red light, gov.uk advises in its Netherlands travel advice section that “crossing the road without a green signal to do so can be interpreted by local law as Jaywalking, even if it is safe to do. Dutch police have been known to hand out fines in such instances.”

Laguerre asserts that the reason why she was subject to “brutality” and put in jail, instead of receiving a fine, is her race: “A few months ago, a few non-black colleagues of mine were cycling ON THE SIDEWALK and when they were stopped, they explained themselves, were reminded that it is a violation in Holland, were simply given a ticket, and continued on to work. I, on the other hand, ended up being told that I was being arrested for WALKING on a red light, was roughed up, and ended up in jail.”

The police department in the Hague said they wanted to submit a complaint against Laguerre to the ICJ regarding her allegations against the department, in which she suggests there was “police brutality”.

Laguerre has also filed a complaint, hers against the police. She posted on Facebook: “Officially filed my complaint against The Hague Police Department. Justice matters.”

The article in the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) alleged that the ICJ had apologised for Laguerre’s claim and that the police had therefore dropped the claim. However, the article states that the ICJ refused to give comment to them on the story.

On Facebook, Laguerre disputed claims that apologies had been made: “I DID NOT APOLOGIZE. AND I DO NOT INTEND TO AND REFUSE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE HAGUE POLICE DEPARTMENT – FOR THEIR MISCONDUCT. AND THE COURT HAS NOT APOLOGIZED.”

The article in AD claims that it has seen CCTV footage showing Laguerre run away when policemen spoke to her about the traffic offence.

Laguerre does not speak Dutch, which she claims is the reason why she did not respond to the policemen’s first contact with her: “When I got to the corner, 2 police officers in a police car stopped me and said something to me in Dutch. I told them that I didn’t understand Dutch, explained that I was walking my bicycle across the street to get out of the way of traffic, and continued walking to the Court.”

In her initial Facebook status, quoted in The Independent, Laguerre said: “I did not know that walking across the street was a crime.” However this does not appear in her current status, which has been edited.

Although she does admit that police officers told her that she was under arrest for refusing to provide ID when requested by a police officer, she still failed to understand what she had done wrong and why she was being treated as such: “I pleaded with them to explain what I did wrong and why they were doing this to me. But they left me in the cell without any explanation.”

She did not have her US or UK passports in her possession at the time as identification, but she says that she did show officers her ICJ badge ID and explained that she is a lawyer working at the International Court of Justice. She says that the police deemed this identification as insufficient: “I continued to try to explain that I work at the Court but they refused to listen to me or acknowledge my ID.”

Laguerre claims that she did have her Dutch identity card in her possession at the time, which is a sufficient form of identification according to Dutch law, however she claims that she was not given an opportunity to show it: “I also had my Dutch identity card that was issued to me from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that gives me a status in this country. But the Dutch police did not even give me the time or opportunity to... even think, breathe, or show it.”

Laguerre has also spoken out about the emotional impact of the incident on her: “I began to cry because I couldn’t believe that human beings could be so evil but mostly because I knew that no matter how much I told the truth, and pleaded, they would believe the false account of the police officers over mine.”

She continued, “I survived 30 years in America – never had an altercation with the police – and came to the Hague, the ‘City of Justice’ where I was brutalised by 2 male police officers.

“I exist being scared of being black, which is not existing at all. I have tortured myself, searching for answers, trying to understand why this happened to me - to no avail. What frightened me most was that everyone stood around and watched.”

Chaka Laguerre, the Dutch police department, and the ICJ have all been contacted for comment.