Hong Kong national security police have arrested a former pro-democracy district councillor and raided her Sham Shui Po bookstore for alleged sedition, according to local media reports.
Police said in a statement just after midnight on Thursday that a woman, 33, and a man, 32, were arrested on Wednesday. The pair allegedly displayed and sold “seditious” titles and “received multiple remittances from foreign political organisations,” they said.
Local media reports identified the woman as ex-Civic Party district councillor Leticia Wong, who runs Hunter Bookstore in Sham Shui Po. HKFP sought to reach Wong on Wednesday night, but multiple calls and text messages did not go through.
In the statement, police said the two allegedly sold seditious titles that stoked hatred against Hong Kong authorities, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies. They were suspected of violating the city’s homegrown national security law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, commonly known as Article 23.
The Sham Shui Po store was raided, with officers seizing allegedly seditious items and books, police said. The pair have been detained for investigation.
Last year, HKFP reported that Hunter Bookstore had faced dozens of inspections and audits by various government departments.
Sedition carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail, but that can be raised to 10 years if the offender is found to have colluded with a foreign force.
In March, independent bookseller Pong Yat-ming and three of the staff members of his Book Punch store were reportedly arrested on suspicion of selling seditious titles, including a biography of jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai.
