Macau Sentences Ex-Lawmaker to 12 Years in First Security Case
A closed-door trial resulted in a conviction for subversion and breaches of confidentiality.
By Justin Brooks ·
Au Kam San will spend more than a decade in prison.
The 69-year-old former legislator received a sentence of 12 years and six months on Friday. This marks the first conviction under Macau's national security law. He was found guilty of subversion against the political power of the state. The court also ruled him guilty on other counts. Prosecutors argued he worked with external hostile organizations. They claimed he spread information with subversive political claims over a long period.
The trial lasted three days and concluded in September. A judge ordered it to be held behind closed doors to protect national security interests. Au faced seven charges in total. These included three counts of subverting state power. He also faced three counts of endangering national security by contacting foreign groups. One count involved a breach of confidentiality. The judge found him guilty on four of these seven charges. Macau authorities did not release public details about the specific evidence used. His family stated that Au was not allowed to hire his own lawyer. The court assigned a defense attorney to him instead.
Virginia Cheang, Au's wife, criticized the outcome. She called the case a groundless persecution designed to humiliate her husband. She said she hopes officials will allow the family to visit and write to Au in prison. In an open letter on Friday, she said she dared not hope for more to avoid greater disappointment. Au served in Macau's Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2021. He was one of the few pro-democracy lawmakers in a body dominated by pro-Beijing loyalists. Before politics, he worked as a primary school teacher.
Macau returned to Chinese rule in 1999 after more than 400 years of Portuguese administration. The local national security law took effect in 2009. It criminalized treason, secession, and subversion against the Chinese Communist Party. The law changed in 2023 to cover non-violent acts of secession. It changed again this year to permit closed-door trials. Au co-organized annual vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. These events were previously allowed in Macau and Hong Kong. They have been effectively banned in both cities since Hong Kong adopted its own security law in 2020.
This ruling followed a similar verdict in Hong Kong. Joshua Wong, a leader of that region's democracy movement, received a 10-year sentence on Thursday. Wong, 30, has been in custody for six years. His activism began when he was a teenager.
