3 re-arrested for alleged sedition after marking anniversary of 2019 Prince Edward police storming

Three individuals, including two men and a woman aged between 33 and 79, have been re-arrested on suspicion of sedition in Hong Kong, according to an official statement released on Saturday. The arrests occurred on Thursday, following their presence outside Prince Edward MTR station on the anniversary of the 2019 incident, known as the "831 incident."

On August 31, 2019, riot police stormed MTR trains and platforms at Prince Edward Station, following hours of protest clashes. The footage showed officers pepper-spraying civilians and driving away reporters and medical personnel. Subsequent investigations by the Hong Kong Police Force faced criticism for discrepancies in injury records and the alleged closure of the station, leading to unverified rumors of civilian deaths.

The National Security Department arrested the trio on suspicion of "doing an act that has a seditious intention with a seditious intention." Authorities stated that the incident was "a lie manipulated by persons with ulterior motives to spread lies, attack the HKSAR Government, and smear the Police Force." One of the arrested individuals, Virginia Fung, is a pro-democracy district councillor who served from 1994 to 2007 and was previously convicted and imprisoned in 2006 for rental allowance fraud.

She is currently barred from serving on the local council again. Sedition is an offense under Hong Kong's local security law, known as Article 23, with penalties of up to seven years in prison if convicted.