HONG KONG: Hong Kong showbiz celebrity Edison Chen Kwoon-hei has testified he believes publication of photos of him having sex with female celebrities was a planned, malicious attack.

The scandal left Chen's career in tatters. He gave his deposition at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday - saying he fears for his safety if he returns to Hong Kong.

The Canadian-born pop icon was deposed under oath in the case against computer technician Sze Ho-chun. Sze has pleaded innocent to charges of dishonestly accessing a computer.

Chen said the explicit photos portraying him and four female celebrities in sexual acts were taken between 2001 and 2006. He said all the photos were taken consensually. None had ever been disclosed to a third party.

"I'm quite a private person ... this was never meant for anyone else to see," he said.

He recalled it was "a huge shock" when he learnt that the images had become widely circulated on the Internet in January, 2008. Police enquiries established the photos were copied from Chen's laptop.

Chen says he believes the pictures stored on his computer were stolen when he took the laptop to a shop for repairs.

He testified that not only were the digital files password protected but that he had intentionally erased all the images before he took the computer to the shop.

He said he was not conversant with encrypted data and learned only later that deleted files could be recovered.

"They invaded my privacy and stole my things in a very direct way," he testified. He said he believed the photos became public as a result of "some foul play" by the repair shop staff.

Chen told the court four females were shown in the pictures.

Among the hundreds of photos, 40 were taken by the women and the rest by Chen.

Chen declined to answer questions related to the women, saying such questions were irrelevant to the case.

"I'm determined to protect their innocence. They have suffered enough," he explained.

The hearing was scheduled for three to five days. The trial of the accused technician will begin in April in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Department of Justice flew a legal team, including Chief Magistrate Tong Man to Vancouver to hear the deposition.

The nude photo saga smashed Chen's career and forced him to early retirement last year. He announced he would quit the Hong Kong entertainment industry forever and would focus on charity work.

(HK Edition 02/25/2009 page1)