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Connor Mycroft

Jess Ma

Five Hong Kong booksellers arrested on suspicion of sedition have been released on bail two days after national security police raided a pair of independent bookshops where they worked.
Police said the three women and two men, aged between 30 and 59, were released on Friday pending further investigation.
A source earlier said the two bookstores involved were Have a Nice Stay bookshop in Prince Edward and Greenfield Book Store in Mong Kok.
Media footage showed Sum Wan-wah, who was among a group of former journalists who co-founded Have A Nice Stay in 2022, and another female bookseller leaving police stations in North Point and Cheung Sha Wan, respectively, shortly after 10am.
The five individuals were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly displaying and selling seditious publications. During the raids, officers seized multiple books.
A police spokesman said the Customs and Excise Department had referred a case involving an overseas shipment of books deemed seditious to the national security department, though authorities did not reveal which titles were considered problematic.
Another source earlier cited titles by the late opposition lawmaker Bottle Shiu Ka-chun, as well as Stay, a memoir by former Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing, as books suspected of promoting anti-government sentiment.
Under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the maximum punishment for committing an act with seditious intent is seven years’ imprisonment.
The arrests prompted condemnation from various international rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Hong Kong’s independent bookshops have faced legal and business setbacks in recent months, while some have been accused by state-backed media of promoting “soft resistance” – a loosely defined term used by authorities to refer to non-violent attempts to undermine the government.
Former opposition district councillor Leticia Wong Man-huen and her husband, who own Hunter’s Bookstore in Sham Shui Po, were arrested on suspicion of sedition and money laundering last month. Both were released on bail.

Have a Nice Stay announced on Tuesday that it would close on August 30, citing several reasons, including financial losses and uncertainty over the red lines governing which books would be considered “problematic”.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Thursday warned that booksellers were responsible for ensuring the titles they stocked did not violate national security legislation. He likened bookstores selling seditious titles to vendors serving contaminated or poisonous food.
Tang said that the government would not compile a list of banned publications, arguing that offenders could bypass such a list by simply changing the titles of books. He added that the law clearly defined what constituted seditious acts.


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5 Hong Kong booksellers arrested for alleged sedition released on bail

Police officers remove confiscated items after a raid on Have a Nice Stay bookshop in Hong Kong’s Prince Edward neighbourhood. Photo: Handout

Mandy Lau, one of the owners of Have A Nice Stay, was among five booksellers arrested for alleged sedition on Wednesday. Photo: AP

The owners of Have a Nice Stay announced earlier in the week that they would be closing down the store on August 30. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hong Kong police arrest 5 over national security after raiding 2 bookstores

Have a Nice Stay had announced on Tuesday that would cease operations on August 30. Photo: Handout

Leticia Wong at Hunter’s Bookstore in June. Photo: Natalie Wong

Story ends as another Hong Kong indie bookshop closes amid ‘losses, red lines’

Have a Nice Stay operates from a fourth-floor tenement property in Prince Edward. Photo: Jelly Tse

Have a Nice Stay has also functioned as a venue for workshops and sessions with authors. Photo: Jelly Tse

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Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Suspects including Have A Nice Stay co-founder Sum Wan-wah released after earlier raids on bookstores selling alleged seditious material


Suspects including Have A Nice Stay co-founder Sum Wan-wah released after earlier raids on bookstores selling alleged seditious material.


Hong Kong’s Article 23 national security law

Hong Kong politics

China

Amnesty International

5 Hong Kong booksellers arrested for alleged sedition released on bail

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Suspects including Have A Nice Stay co-founder Sum Wan-wah released after earlier raids on bookstores selling alleged seditious material

Suspects including Have A Nice Stay co-founder Sum Wan-wah released after earlier raids on bookstores selling alleged seditious material