Asian pop star Edison Chen, who fled Hong Kong in disgrace last year after nude photos of himself with several female celebrities were posted on the Internet, testify in an unusual court hearing started Monday in Vancouver. Chen's trouble began after he took his broken laptop in for repairs in Hong Kong. Shortly afterwards, explicit photos of him with different women, some identifiable as famous actresses, singers and models, began appearing online. After months of silence, Chen, a singer and actor who grew up in Vancouver, Canada and is one of Asia's most recognized celebrities, was to testify before a Hong Kong judge and lawyers over five days. The testimony had been expected to last five days, but both the prosecution and defense completed their questions Monday. Chen return Tuesday to read and sign the court transcript.A Canadian judge and Hong Kong's chief magistrate will be co-commissioners at the hearing as Hong Kong police question Chen. Chen was ordered by the judge to answer a question raised by the defendant's lawyer to identify the four women in the string of sex photos. The four names are: Cecilia Pak-Chi Cheung, Gillian Yan-Tung Chung, Bo Bo Man-Wun Chan and Rachel Sze-Wing Ngan. His private sex pictures with several Hong Kong starlets set off an Internet firestorm but now he says he hopes the women involved will soon put this behind them. Edison Chen made the comment as he emerged from a British Columbia Supreme Court.
The hearing is taking place in Vancouver because Edison Chen, 28, fearing for his safety refused to return to Hong Kong to give evidence at the trial of computer technician Sze Ho-Chun, who is facing charges of distributing via the Internet pictures of the actor having sex with female celebrities. On the second day of the hearing, Chen added that 40 photos were all taken by ONE woman who had an affair with him in 2003. Guess who? The married one with the cuckold husband who had to get his baby DNA tested!
The Chinese film star was surrounded by security as he leaves British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday, February 23, 2009. Chen says he was shocked when private photos of him appeared on the Internet, causing a sex scandal "This is part of the judicial proceedings. Since the proceedings are in progress, no further details can be disclosed," an official with the Hong Kong police said in an email to the Toronto Star. While Chen admitted that most of the 328 photos submitted in court today were taken by him, he claimed 40 of them were taken by the women in the photos. Chen's international fame skyrocketed after the photos appeared and Google said last December his name was the most searched term in Asia in 2008. Edison Chen's name was searched for more in the Chinese speaking world last year than the Beijing Olympics, the devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province and the tainted milk scandal. Chen told a crush of Chinese media outside the Vancouver court that he hopes every victim will recover and that their well-being is more important than his.
