Hong Kong’s National Security Police have raided two independent bookstores and arrested five people suspected of committing an act of sedition.
In a statement released Wednesday night, the government said The five were suspected of “having committed with intent to insurrection an act or acts having an intent to insurrection,” an offense under Article 23, the city’s security law.
Among the five are two men aged 37 and 57 and three women aged between 30 and 59.
The police investigation revealed that the five had exhibited and sold items that carried seditious intentions. Their content may incite hatred towards the Hong Kong government, judiciary and law enforcement, the statement said.
The police also seized books that had rebellious intentions. All five have been detained for investigation.
The government’s statement came hours after officers were seen outside Have a Nice Stay, a fourth-floor bookstore in Prince Edward, loading materials into a truck.
The items included 10 plastic boxes and a cardboard box, a suitcase and a black plastic bag.
Around 17:00, the police escorted a woman from the building where the bookstore is located. She was wearing a black T-shirt that indicated she worked there.
Officers did not say if she was under arrest. HKFP has contacted the police for comment.
Officers were already on the street where the upstairs bookstore is when HKFP arrived at around 2.15pm. Ming Pao reported that plainclothes officers took plastic and cardboard boxes to the bookstore around 1:00 p.m.
Those who tried to go to the bookstore were stopped by officers and told to leave. According to for The Collective newspaper, a person from a publishing company who came by the bookstore to drop off books had their identifying information removed.
By 4:00 p.m., about a dozen journalists had gathered outside the building.
The search came a day after the pleasant stay said it would close next month, citing financial difficulties and “fuzzy red lines”.
Local media reported that police conducted an operation at Greenfield Bookstore, also an independent bookstore, in Mong Kok at the same time.
There were no police officers when HKFP arrived in the evening, but the bookstore was closed despite it being open hours.
‘Red Lines’
The closure of Pleasant Stay and subsequent police operation at the two bookshops follows the arrest of operators at two other independent bookshops by national security police earlier this year.
Hong Kong independent bookseller Pong Yat-ming and three of his bookstore staff were arrested in March in suspicion of selling rebel titlesincluding a biography of jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai.
In June, Hunter Bookstore owner Letitia Wong was arrested for the suspected appearance and selling “rebellious” titles and “receiving multiple remittances from foreign political organizations”. Her husband was caught on suspicion of having committed the same crime.
In announcing Have a Nice Stay’s closure, the bookstore said “fuzzy red lines” made it difficult to determine which books might be illegal to distribute.
“The vague red lines are certainly part of the reason,” the bookstore said in its statement Tuesday, adding that authorities have never specified which books can and cannot be legally sold in the city.
Another independent bookstore, Elmbook, announced last week that it will be closing its brick-and-mortar store. The announcement came after she and Luck Win Bookshop were barred from participating in the annual Hong Kong Book Fair, which began on Wednesday.
The state-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po has accused the two bookstores of selling titles promoting Hong Kong independence.
