Overview
- Police searched Have A Nice Stay and Greenfield Book Store on Wednesday, July 15, seizing boxes of materials and detaining two men and three women on suspicion of selling or displaying seditious publications under the 2024 law.
- Authorities said customs officers flagged a shipment of books from overseas and referred the case to the police National Security Department, which carried out the investigations at the shops.
- The offence carries possible prison terms of up to seven years under Hong Kong’s local national security/sedition provisions and the detained people face ongoing probes and potential prosecution.
- This is the third high-profile operation targeting independent booksellers in 2026 following raids at Book Punch in March and Hunter bookstore in June, and it follows Have A Nice Stay’s recent announcement that it plans to close because of financial pressure and unclear legal ‘red lines’.
- Rights and press-freedom groups condemned the actions as a further shrinking of space for free expression in Hong Kong, which has tightened controls on politically sensitive publishing since the 2019 unrest and the city’s 2024 sedition law changes.