Hong Kong police officials arrested two individuals on Saturday under the new national security law, citing alleged “seditious” intent. The detainees include a 41-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, who are suspected of forging a suicide note of a deceased professor to allegedly incite hatred against the Hong Kong and central (Chinese) government.

According to the police, the arrested woman was suspected of publishing a fraudulent suicide note purportedly written by a deceased professor from the City University of Hong Kong, which linked his death to the dissatisfaction with Hong Kong’s political developments since 2019. The note also cited the Article 23 security law legislation passed in March 2024.

The initial investigation revealed that the deceased professor had sought help for mental health issues triggered by concerns and distress over physical health and work-related problems, according to local media outlet ReNews. The university also issued a statement on Saturday, calling on the public to be cautious about rumours online.

The other man was accused of placing “memorial light boxes” in various places to “provoke hatred” towards the Chinese and Hong Kong governments.

The police arrested the suspects for allegedly contravening section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. Article 25 clarifies that the prosecution does not need to prove that the defendant intends to incite third parties to violence or public disorder, as long as there is an intention to bring hatred, contempt or disaffection against the Chinese and/or Hong Kong government.

The arrest on Saturday followed a recent conviction of the now-defunct online news outlet Stand News, its former editor-in-chief, Chung Pui-kuen and the former acting editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam. They were found guilty of sedition on August 30, 2024 and will be facing up to two years in prison. This case marked the first such conviction of journalists in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover. 

The conviction was based on the now-repealed sedition offense under the Crimes Ordinance. The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal recently allowed a challenge, which argues that the prosecution must prove a common law intention to incite third parties to violence or public disorder in order for the defendant to be found guilty of sedition.