Government pulls plug on steamy VCD

Government officials cracked down on a tabloid weekly yesterday after it gave away a VCD allegedly depicting a sexual encounter between a female politician and her married lover.

The Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday seized copies of the video issued by Scoop Weekly purporting to show Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), the 36-year-old former director of Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau, having sex with her lover.

The video was included free in the latest edition of Scoop. The 40-minute VCD was apparently made with a hidden bedroom camera without the woman's knowledge.

Attorneys for the magazine yesterday said the government's actions violate the right to a free press.

"The DPP government hates both Chu Mei-feng and Scoop Weekly," said Lin Hsien-tong (林憲同), the magazine's lawyer. "The GIO is aiming to destroy us both."

Chu refused to answer any questions regarding the video during a court appearance on Monday that was unrelated to the VCD.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) told lawmakers yesterday that he had ordered the GIO, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Administration to handle the case.

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office is looking into whether the filming of the video involved criminal acts.

The GIO began confiscating the VCDs on Monday night. Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), director-general of the GIO, said that police nationwide are helping to take the video off store shelves.

GIO officials also said they were confiscating the video and not the magazine, which contains a lengthy story about Chu's alleged promiscuity.

The owner and publisher of Scoop Weekly yesterday accused the GIO of abusing its authority and filed a complaint with Taipei prosecutors.

Shen Jung (沈嶸), chairwoman of the magazine, said the video was newsworthy and the public had the right to know its contents.

"The VCD is not pornographic but evidence to back up our report," Shen said. "We are sure the woman in the video is Chu and the male is her boyfriend, who is a married man. A politician's life should be examined."

Shen Yeh (沈野), Scoop Weekly's owner, vowed to keep the presses rolling yesterday. "We are going to keep printing this magazine with an accelerated speed," Shen said.

But the GIO said the magazine violated the Broadcasting and Television Law by distributing the video. The law says any VCD, DVD or videotape must be examined by the GIO before being published.

Lin took issue with that explanation. "Press media are not regulated by the Broadcasting and Television Law, and the GIO's actions are a violation of press freedom," the lawyer said.

Still, GIO officials held their ground. "The magazine's giving away this VCD is considered distribution and it violates the law," said Chang Chung-jen (張崇仁), director of the Radio and Television Affairs Department at the GIO.

Taipei prosecutors yesterday said they were considering filing charges against the magazine for alleged illegal distribution of pornography and invasion of privacy.

It's against the law to tape a person speaking without their permission. Violators face five years in prison or an NT$50,000 fine.

Publishers and distributors of pornographic videos face two years in jail. Police also have the authority to confiscate any obscene material.

Scoop Weekly said it had nothing to do with the filming of the video, and it was unclear who made it and distributed it to the media.