Two men were arrested in Hong Kong for owning books that authorities say are "seditious," the BBC reported on Friday.
They are thought to be the first people arrested for simply owning the books after the publishers were arrested last year.
The books were about sheep trying to hold back wolves from their village, which authorities interpreted as a reference to Hong Kong citizens trying to keep out China's government.
Critics of the arrests describe them as marking the deterioration of Hong Kong citizens' rights. Human Rights Watch called the arrests "shameful," according to the BBC report.
The men, aged 38 and 50, were arrested at their apartments on Monday, Hong Kong media reported. Police raided their homes in Kowloon and Hong Kong island, where they seized several copies of the books, part of a series called Yangcun.
Both of the men were released on bail, but are required to report to the police next month, Yahoo News reported, citing local authorities.
The book's publishers, a group of five Hong Kong speech therapists, were incarcerated in the Fall after a court found that they had "seditious intention" with their books.
China cracking down on Hong Kongers' freedom
Under Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kongers are supposed to be given some freedoms that are not provided to people in mainland China, but these rights have been eroded since China imposed a national security law in 2020 in response to anti-Beijing protests in 2019.
A 24-year-old student was arrested in January for sedition after posting a download link of Yangcun on Facebook, according to Mingpao news.