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Hong Kong booksellers suspected of sedition released on bail
Five booksellers were released on bail after police raids at two independent shops, days after the national security case followed a referral involving an overseas shipment of books.
Five Hong Kong booksellers arrested on suspicion of sedition have been released on bail two days after national security police raided independent bookshops where they worked, according to SCMP Economy.
Police said the group includes three women and two men aged between 30 and 59, released on Friday pending further investigation. The article identifies the shops as Have a Nice Stay bookshop in Prince Edward and Greenfield Book Store in Mong Kok.
SCMP Economy reports that media footage showed a former journalist and co-founder of Have A Nice Stay, Sum Wan-wah, leaving police stations in North Point shortly after 10am, along with another female bookseller leaving a separate station in Cheung Sha Wan.
Police said officers seized multiple books during the raids, and a police spokesman stated that the Customs and Excise Department referred a case involving an overseas shipment of books deemed seditious to the national security department, though authorities did not specify which titles were targeted. The piece also notes that earlier sources cited titles including works by the late opposition lawmaker Bottle Shiu Ka-chun, and Stay, a memoir by former Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing.