Hong Kong police detained four more people Saturday for
possessing racy photos depicting what appeared to be local pop
stars, in the latest episode of a scandal started with the on-line
circulation of such photos last week.
The three men and a woman knew each other and were arrested late
Friday and early Saturday, said Tang King-shing, commissioner of
police of Hong Kong.
The suspects, aged 29 to 31, were being detained for further
investigation, Tang said, adding that officers were working to stop
circulation of the photos with the help of Internet service
providers and overseas law enforcement agencies.
The law in Hong Kong, China's southern special administrative
region, stipulates that it is not necessarily against the law to
possess indecent photos but those who have many such photos may be
arrested for intending to circulate or sell them.
The arrests came two days after a 29-year-old man was arrested
and charged in connection with circulating the photos on-line.
He was found to have 12 such photos, local media reported.
The case had been adjourned till March 28 without parole.
The four suspects detained on Saturday were not connected with
him, police said.
The photos had been circulated on-line since January 27, with a
mysterious man reportedly releasing the partially nude photos
according to an announced schedule.
Police were still trying to find the first releaser of the
photos and Tang, the police chief, had warned against possessing
and circulating the indecent photos.
(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2008)