Hong Kong police on Thursday accused a suspect of disseminating
obscene content after the town was stirred by the daily upload of
erotic photos of Hong Kong singer-actor Edison Chen and his former
rumored celebrity girlfriends on local online bulletin board in the
past five days.
Twelve involved photos were reportedly found in his computer
when the 29-year-old suspect was seized in Yuenlong district
Wednesday night.
The man was only a second-hand promulgator and the case will be
further investigated, the police said.
Eight other photos were released on the internet during the
period when the arrest was taken place.
The scandal started last Sunday when a forum user of
hkgolden.com uploaded a seemingly-self-taken erotic shot of a man
and a woman in bed, who looked like Edison Chen and one of his
rumored ex-girlfriends, "Twins" pop singer Gillian Chung.
Netizens searched from the internet a video clip featuring
Chen's home and pointed out its similarities with the background in
the photo. An anonymous user left a message, claiming he had seen
the snaps before and they leaked out of Chen's laptop when it was
sent for repair.
On Monday afternoon, the second photo featuring Chen and
model-singer Bobo Chan was published on the forum.
During the following days, more shots of Chen with Gillian Chung
and single-person snaps of Cecilia Cheung and Joey Yeung were
released on the internet.
Chen's agency EEG Music made a quick response on Monday by
filing a complaint with the police and announcing the photos were
computer conjoined.
In accordance with local anti-porn laws, websites were requested
to delete all related threads. However, a preliminary police
appraisal didn't testify the photos' fakeness.
Both Chen and Bobo Chan have reportedly left Hong Kong to cool
off. Gillian Chung has avoided making public appearance for days,
due to a fever, as her agency claimed.
Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild held an emergency meeting on
Tuesday and called on the society to resist the bad trends.
(CRI February 1, 2008)