Ex-lawmaker jailed in Macau's first national security trial

Au served in Macau's legislature, dominated by pro-China loyalists, for two decades and stepped down in 2021 [FILE: Dec 12, 2024]Image: Eduardo Leal/AFPAdvertisementA court in Macau on Friday sentenced former lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in jail in the Chinese territory's first national security case.

The 69-year-old was convicted of several offences including "subversion against the political power of the State".

Au was accused of providing false information to anti-China organizations outside Macau to incite hatred against the city's government and Beijing.

The teacher-turned-lawmaker was detained in July 2025, in what was the first publicly known prosecution under Macau's national security law since it was implemented in 2009.

Au "personally provided, over a long period of time, assistance and collaboration to external hostile organisations in the collection, preparation, and public dissemination of various images and information that were manifestly filled with political claims of a subversive nature against the political authority of the State," a court statement said.

The court added that Au also sought to "incite hatred among Macau residents against the Central People's Government, with the intent to overthrow and undermine the fundamental system of the State enshrined in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China."

Au's closed-door trial — which ended in September in three days —  had raised concerns about fairness.

An open trial was ruled out by a judge to safeguard national security interests, the court had said earlier.

Critics say that Au's case illustrates China's emphasis on security and its intolerance of dissent, even though Macau's pro-democracy movement has never been as influential as its neighbor Hong Kong.

Last year, the  European Uniondenounced Au's arrest, saying it added to the concerns about the "erosion of political pluralism" in Macau. 

Au served in Macau's legislature dominated by pro-China loyalists for two decades and stepped down in 2021.

He co-organized Macau's vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

Macau is a former Portuguese colony which reverted to China in 1999. Like Hong Kong, it operates as a special administrative region of China.