Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested two shopkeepers on suspicion of “seditious” acts over their social media posts calling on residents to resist coronavirus restrictions, as the city struggles with its worst outbreak to date.
Police said the two women, aged 21 and 24, had used their shop’s social media accounts to “incite hatred and incite others to violate anti-epidemic regulations”.
The two were arrested under a colonial-era law, police confirmed, adding that officers found posters that violated the law when searching the shop in the working-class Mong Kok district and the women’s residences.
Hong Kong police did not give specifics on what the women allegedly proposed and whether it involved violence. The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
This week, Hong Kong tightened social distancing measures and announced compulsory testing after the city was overwhelmed by thousands of fresh coronavirus infections a day.
The finance hub reaffirmed it would maintain its “zero-Covid” strategy after Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered the city to get the virus under control by any means necessary.
Dozens Raid Shop
Police did not identify the women or the store, but local media reported that dozens of officers had raided a shop on Thursday in Mong Kok, a crowded area of Kowloon.
The Facebook and Instagram accounts matching that shop’s name displayed posts criticising Hong Kong’s restrictive anti-Covid policies as “creating panic” and stifling mass protests.
The posts urged the public to avoid vaccination and not to cooperate with the city’s contact tracing app, adding that students should “pretend to be sick” after getting jabs.
The arrests came on the same day that Hong Kong launched its “vaccine pass”, which requires residents to get jabbed before entering locations such as malls, supermarkets and restaurants.
Earlier this month, police arrested singer Tommy Yuen for publishing “seditious” social media posts – some of which allegedly involved smearing the government’s anti-Covid measures, according to police.
More than 160 people have been arrested under a recently imposed national security law as of last month, most of them opposition politicians, activists, journalists and rights workers.
- AFP, with additional editing by George Russell
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