Three men associated with the Jordanian Paralympic squad were arrested in Northern Ireland on Monday the 20^th of August 2012, following allegations of sexual assault on several women and children. The team is staying in County Antrim, leading up to the Paralympics in London next week.

The story of the arrest seems to have first appeared rather late the following day. Initially the reports only stated that it involved three women.

However, reports the day after (Wednesday the 22^nd) now state that two of the three men have been charged with sexual offences involving children, one man exclusively so:

A 23-year-old-man was charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of sexual assault against a woman and voyeurism.

A 35-year-old man was charged with two counts of causing sexual activity with a child.

The third man charged, a 36-year-old, faces one count of sexual assault against a woman.

A Google search reveals that the story hasn’t made it around the world, with the exception of a few US reports, and a short report in Ynet.

Considering the serious nature of the story, as well as its international dimension, it is odd how muted the reporting has been, especially in the UK and Ireland. For example, the initial report on Tuesday evening disappeared from the state broadcaster RTE’s teletext service after a relatively short period of time, and after having been given a very low news ranking (number 14 or 15 out of 16 listed stories). It has been given a similarly low ranking today (a drop from number 13 to 16 before again disappearing from the listings in the early afternoon), which is odd considering the revelation that the story involves children.

Could it be another example of the media’s fear of anything highly controversial that could be linked with Muslims, as illustrated by the obfuscatory British media reports that continually substituted the word “Muslim” with “Asian”? It is difficult to say with any certainty but the muted media reaction is very odd to say the least.

Update

 
Additional information has since emerged after a court hearing in Londonderry earlier today. The three accused have been granted bail. They are:

The story seems to have gained greater attention from the mainstream media, perhaps after the court heard that King Abdullah had taken an interest in the case, perhaps due to its potential for embarrassment: