Hong Kong police arrest three for seditious intent over 2019 protest anniversary

Hong Kong national security police have arrested three people on suspicion of acting with seditious intent over a gathering outside Prince Edward MTR station to mark the 2019 protest flashpoint there.

A police force spokesman said on Saturday that two men and a woman were arrested on Thursday for allegedly shouting seditious slogans and holding white flowers outside the station on August 31.

“The people concerned were suspected of spreading false information and attacking the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government with lies,” the spokesman said.

He added that their acts were also suspected of smearing the police force with the intention of inciting hatred against the city government and its law enforcement agencies.

Prince Edward MTR station became a flashpoint during Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government protests, when a controversial police operation on August 31 that year saw riot officers pursuing protesters into train carriages and beating people with batons and pepper spray.