The founder and three staff members of independent Hong Kong bookstore Book Punch have been released on bail they were arrested by the national security police over the alleged sale of “seditious books”.
Punch book said on Facebook Thursday afternoon that Pong Yat-ming, the store manager, and two part-time staff members were released on bail Wednesday night.
They were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of selling rebel titles at their Sham Shui Po bookstore, including a biography of jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai, local media reported.
They were suspected of “knowingly selling a publication which has a seditious purpose”, an offense under the National Security Protection Ordinance, known locally as Article 23.
In Thursday’s post, Book Punch wrote that it would have to close for a while as it had to buy new mobile phones and computers following the arrests.
“Scheduled activities will be delayed and rescheduled. I look forward to seeing you all again,” the Chinese post read.
In response to the HKFP, Pong confirmed that he and his staff have been released on bail. He said he could not say anything about the case.
The offense of selling seditious material carries a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars – 10 years if the offender is found to have collaborated with an outside force.
According to local media, among the books seized by police during a raid on Tuesday was The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai became a billionaire, Hong Kong’s biggest dissident and China’s most feared critic. The headline was written by Mark Clifford, a former director of media conglomerate Lai’s Next Digital and a former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post.
In an emailed response to the HKFP inquiry on Tuesday, a police spokesman said the force “will take action according to the current circumstances and in accordance with the law”.
Human rights NGO Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas asked in a Facebook post on Wednesday whether Lai had become a “buzzword” in Hong Kong.
“Jimmy Lai is a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Defending freedom of expression is not a crime; release all #PrisonersOfConscience immediately!” Post reads.
Lai, 78, the founder of the defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February. following his conviction on charges of foreign collaboration and sedition.
Pong founded Book Punch in 2020. The bookstore and Pong were charged last year on suspicion of running “an unregistered school” in connection with a Spanish language course it offered.
Both Pong and the shop pleaded not guilty to the charges in January. Long trial earlier this monthPong testified that the former education chief had said years ago that no registration was required to hold interest classes.
