Hong Kong - Singer and actor Edison Chen, the star at the centre of a nude photo scandal, is to return to Hong Kong to face the music. Chen's agent confirmed Sunday that the actor would be flying back this week from Boston in the United States, where he has been since the scandal broke early this month.
Explicit images appearing to show Chen with a number of women appeared online, in e-mails and in various newspapers over the past fortnight, sparking a police investigation and several arrests.
Some of the women featured appear to be stars Gillian Chung of the Canto-pop duo Twins, actress Cecila Cheung and former actress Bobo Chan - all of whom have been rumoured to have been romantically linked in the past with Chen.
Both Chen, who starred in The Grudge 2 and Infernal Affairs, and Cheung have apologized to fans without confirming whether the images were genuine.
However, reports and online forums claimed they came from a laptop that Chen took to a computer centre to be repaired.
The scandal has tainted the reputation of Hong Kong's saccharine-sweet Canto-pop stars and sparked a row over internet freedom following the arrest and detention of a 29-year-old for publishing obscene materials.
Chung Yik-tin spend two weeks in prison on remand but was released Thursday after an Obscene Articles Tribunal ruled the photographs were indecent but not obscene and the charge against him was dropped.
A second man, aged 23, has been charged with dishonestly using someone else's computer and was free on bail until a hearing later this month.
The case has also brought criticism against the police for their handling of the investigation and the decision to prosecute Chung Yik-tin.
On Saturday, chief secretary Henry Tang acknowledged the difficulties in policing the internet.
"We should he clear that the development of our society - growing civic awareness, the quest for personal freedom, changing social values and the development of the internet technology - has created many new difficulties and challenges in enforcing the law and put incredible pressure on police," he said.
