Amnesty International denounces arrests in Hong Kong bookstores

“ The use of ‘sediting’ crimes to attack bookstores again demonstrates how the Hong Kong national security framework is being used as a weapon to silence dissident voices and eradicate spaces of free thought and debate,” wrote AI on Facebook social network.

The non-governmental organization argued that those who work in establishments dedicated to the sale of books should not be deprived of freedom simply because they perform this professional activity.

The Hong Kong authorities – asked the organisation – “must immediately cease the use of national security and sedition laws to criminalize the peaceful exercise of human rights and ensure that all people in Hong Kong can access, publish and share ideas without fear of being arrested.”.

Chinese authorities raided two bookstores and detained five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, reported local media on July 16.

Videos and photos of various media outlets showed police seizing boxes in the building that houses the Have bookstore Nice Stay, founded by former journalists.

A few blocks away, a similar action took place, with boxes to be seized in the building that houses the Greenfield Book Store bookstore, according to a video from The Collective online news portal.

A few days later, Greenfield announced the closure on social media. “This store will close as soon as the lease is over,” wrote Greenfield Book Store in a social network publication Instagram, not specifying the date.

Police later reported that they raided two stores in Mong Kok district without identifying them. Two men and three women were arrested on suspicion of violation of the national security law of 2024, according to a corporate statement.

This was the third round of arrests linked to independent bookstores, after similar operations in March and June, widely seen as a way of stifling dissent in the Asian financial center.

Police said an investigation revealed that the five people are suspected of displaying and selling seditious materials on site. The contents of the publications include incitement to hatred against the government, judiciary and city security forces, according to the statement.

Police reported that the case was forwarded to customs after the discovery of allegedly seditious books in a batch of goods shipped from abroad to Hong Kong without specifying the titles.

A Have Nice Stay had already announced the closure on 30 August. In a social media publication, the bookstore stated that the financial difficulties and problems in defining a ‘red line’ were among the factors that led to closure.