Hong Kong - A 24-year-old man on Monday denied publishing obscene photographs of Hong Kong celebrities at the centre of a internet scandal early this year. Kwok Chun-wai pleaded not guilty to the charge at a court appearance Monday Jun 2, 2008. His trial has been set for next month. Edison Chen is expected to return to Hong Kong to testify in his trail.
Kwok was arrested after nude sexually graphic photos of Cantopop star Edison Chen (陳冠希) and a series of young starlets appeared on the internet in February.
A 23-year-old computer technician, who is alleged to have copied the images from Chen’s computer while it was being repaired, has also denied charges of dishonest use of a computer in connection with the same incident.
The images were viewed by millions when they first appeared on the internet, sparking one of the biggest scandals in Hong Kong entertainment history and fuelling a debate on internet freedom. Actor and popstar Chen, 27, later apologized to the women involved, who included Twins singer Gillian Chung, and announced he was giving up his show business career.
When the Canadian born actor and singer, Edison Chen, took his Pink MacBook to a Hong Kong repair shop named eLiTe Multimedia, he got a lot more than he bargained for. An employee is reported to have copied the memory and the contents have turned out to be the equivalent sex jackpot digital dynamite. The laptop was loaded with sexy photos featuring Edison and some of Asia’s top actresses and singers.
The images wound up on the net and have triggered a major scandal. The photos show Chen Sex Cams bed with at least six different women. One of the women featured in the photos is Gillian Chung, a best-selling singer who has a large fan base consisting mainly of young teen girls.
The discovery that Chung was a participant has generated some criticism. Around the time she was starring in Chen’s bedroom scenes, Chung had been doing the rounds as an advocate of upstanding morality - making speeches condemning premarital sex.
The first batch of pictures appeared on the net about two weeks ago. Since then some unknown operator has been uploading fresh photos on a daily basis, further compromising the women involved.
Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai Yilin (蔡依林) was rumoured to be romantically linked with Jay Chou (周杰倫) as well as Edison Chen, more commonly known as EDC, at one time.
Jolin Tsai was drawn into the Edison Chen’s female celebrities nude photo scandal in February 2008. But she had issued a statement that she was never involved with EDC.
Edison Chen has apologized and made an appeal for people to destroy the images, which is a bit like asking the little Dutch boy to stick his finger in the dike when half of Holland is under water.
Everyone from the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong to bloggers have been weighing in on the debate. The Bishop made a plea for decency and called upon people not to post or circulate the pictures.
The photos wee originally uploaded by a person calling himself “Kira”. Kwok Chun-wai’s best defense in his trail will be the fact that new photos were uploaded by Kira after he was arrested. Edison Chen is still in self-imposed exile following his sex photos scandal.
Gillian Chung
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