EPA•GETTY The German state broadcaster showed a New Year speech by Merkel rather than report the attacks

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The major migrant cover-up claim was sparked after it became clear at least one public funded broadcaster ignored the brutal assaults on women by marauding gangs up to 1,000 immigrant men in Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart. A huge number of women have come forward saying they were victims of the shocking crimes, which included rape, sexual assault, and robbery. They claimed the attacks were carried out by gangs of “north African and Arabic appearance”.

EPA The image released today shows crowds outside Cologne's main station which saw a wave of attacks

The decision by TV group ZDF not to report the news has seen astonishing claims of media censorship of crimes carried out by immigrants. In a statement posted on the Facebook page of the station's 'Today programme' editor-in-chief Elmar Thevessen said: "The news was clear enough. It was a mistake that the 7pm Today programme did not even mention the incident." He added that they had decided not to do the reports in order to do a proper and sensitive job with full interviews later in the week. He said: "This was however a clear mistake."

EPA A man is led away by police following the attacks

Instead of reporting the news it showed a public address by German Chancellor Angela Merkel with subtitles in Arabic. The apology follows a report by German newspaper Bild before Christmas which accused officials of ordering media not to reveal the extent of crimes carried out by immigrants. The respected newspaper said that drug dealers in the country were signing up asylum seekers as cheap drugs couriers and dealers, and accused the police of covering it up. The paper said that all of the officials dealing with the problem had been ordered not to talk about it, as it was a sensitive subject. It was aiming to avoid alarming the general public, already concerned about the vast number of refugees being allowed in the country, and also in order to avoid providing material for right-wing extremists. Former German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich branded it a news blackout, adding the country was now seeing the consequences of uncontrolled immigration which "can no longer be swept under the carpet".

The accusations come as its revealed at least two other German major cities saw similar incidents on New Year’s Eve. Hamburg and Stuttgart were also said to have seen gangs carry out assaults. Bild wrote today under the headline "Unbelievable New Year reports from Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart”: “The women were groped, assaulted and robbed. This is an entirely new dimension to organised criminality carried out by men of North African and Arabic appearance. "Now, six days later, there has not been one single arrest." One of the women who spoke out about her ordeal said: "I had a knee-length skirt on, and suddenly I felt a hand on my backside under my dress. I turned round immediately and saw a grinning face."

But there was anger after Cologne's mayor seemed to blame the victims. Henriette Reker said women need to adopt a "code of conduct" to prevent future attacks as she attended an emergency meeting with police and officals on Tuesday to discuss how best to deal with the crimes. At least one woman in Cologne was reportedly raped and many were groped, including a volunteer policewoman.

GETTY Angela Merkel has been urged by protestors to take action

I was groped everywhere. It was a nightmare. Although we shouted and beat them, the guys did not stop Katja L

Victims had their underwear ripped from them, fingers inserted into orifices and their handbags rifled for valuables. Police Chief Wolfgang Albers called the attacks "crime in a completely new dimension". But Ms Reker offered advice such as staying an arm's length away from strangers, as she said: "It is important to prevent such incidents from ever happening again." Remaining with your own group and asking bystanders to intervene or to help as a witness were some of the other pieces of advice from the female mayor.

AFP Women took to the streets to protest against the reaction to the mass assault

She said the code, which will be available online soon, was designed for young women and girls "so that such things do not happen to them". Her words immediately provoked anger among Germans who said she appeared to be blaming the victims for the attacks. And hundreds of people, mainly women, took to Cologne's street on Tuesday evening to call for action over the incident by Merkel. With hundred of thousands of people expected on the streets in coming weeks for carnival celebrations Ms Reker said video monitoring of crowds is being considered.



CCTV cameras in the main station are being examined to try to identify the attackers although no footage has been released to the public. The attackers are described by police as being of North African or Arabic appearance.



Around 1,000 men fitting the description were at the station on New Year's Eve but police stressed they had no idea how many were offenders. German police received numerous complaints from women who claimed they were assaulted around the city’s main train station last week.

AFP Women are angry they have been blamed for the sexual assaults in Cologne

The group also robbed their victims and threw fireworks at a crowd of people, police said. Ms Reker – herself a victim of a racist stabbing by an anti-immigrant fanatic last year – earlier said people must not jump to conclusions the men were immigrants.



The incidents are "outrageous," Reker said. "It cannot be the case that visitors who come to Cologne have to live in fear of being attacked."

GETTY Officers are hunting around 1,000 'Arab and North African men

One of the victims – known only as Katja L – gave a chilling account of her ordeal. She said: “When we came out of the station, we were very surprised by the group that met us there." Katja claimed the group was "exclusively young foreign men". She added: “We then walked through this group of men. There was an alley through [the men] which we walked through.”