Former pro-democracy lawmaker sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in Macau’s first national security case

A Macau court has sentenced former lawmaker Au Kam San to 12.5 years in prison in the casino hub’s first national security case following a closed-door trial.

His arrest in 2025 was the first publicly known prosecution under Macau’s national security law since it was enacted in 2009, in a case that has many echoes of Beijing’s brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

Since his arrest, Au has been barred from contacting his family and accessing a private lawyer, his family has alleged.

Au was found guilty of "subversion against the political power of the state" and establishing contact with organisations, groups or people outside Macau to commit acts endangering national security.

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," the court said.

It added that Au 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”.

His trial was held behind closed doors in September and concluded within three days.

This photo taken on December 12, 2024 shows Au Kam-san, a primary school teacher who became one of Macau's longest-serving pro-democracy legislators, posing for a portrait in Macau.

Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, who has been helping the family, called Au's trial a "sham" which has brought shame upon Macau and would affect how the territory is viewed globally.

He told The Independent that Au's trial and the "manufactured allegations" against him brought Macau "in line with the most repressive states around the world, where the executive has the power to imprison those with whom it disagrees, with no semblance of a proper, fair legal process".

Au, 69, holds joint Portuguese citizenship, is one of the most prominent opposition figures in Macau and has been a lawmaker for two decades in a legislature dominated by Beijing loyalists.

The EU last year condemned his arrest, but stopped short of calling for Au’s release. Mr Polak called on Portugal and the EU to demand that Au be allowed to leave Macau “rather than spend over a decade in prison for non-existent crimes.”

Au’s London-based daughter, Cheery Au, earlier told The Independent that the family feared for his health, as he suffers from diabetes.

“What saddens me the most is seeing him being portrayed as a villain by the very government that he served for so many years. I hope people remember the person they knew throughout his career, the reason why they placed their trust in him and elected him time and again,” Ms Cherry Au said.

“Right now he is facing profound injustice. I hope those who remember his years of service will stand by him.”

Au, a teacher-turned-lawmaker, served in the legislature for 20 years before stepping down in 2021. Au was also an organiser of Macau’s commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

He was detained from his Macau home in July last year on allegations of having assisted and cooperated with “hostile organisations” outside Macau for a long period of time in collecting and disseminating political views laden with ideas of subverting state power and false information.

Critics say Chinese president Xi Jinping’s crackdown on dissent has reached the former Portuguese colony across the Pearl River delta, where authorities are set to test the tightened law with Au’s prosecution.

Macau is a former Portuguese colony that has operated, like Hong Kong, as a special administrative region since its return to Chinese rule in 1999. It has its own political and legal systems and Macau is the only Chinese city where casino gambling is legal. It has resorts run by affiliates of the American gaming giants MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.

Human Rights Watch said Macau's unjust prosecution of Au "sends a chilling message to all peaceful critics in the territory". "The authorities’ silencing of pro-democracy voices in Macao reflects the Chinese government’s broader assault on dissent and fundamental freedoms," said Maya Wang, the group's deputy Asia director.

Au said he entered politics as he saw many social problems in daily life that required people to speak out. He said the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in 1989 brought him and his like-minded friends together, and he later felt Macau needed people to push forward an open and democratic society.

Prior to his arrest, Au was a rare voice in Macau who regularly criticised government measures and political development on Facebook and in interviews, although many considered his critiques to be mild.

The court in July said Au would be represented by a court-appointed lawyer whom authorities said was approved by him and his rights were ensured by law.

The court earlier said the judge decided against an open trial to ensure that national security interests would not be undermined. It came at the request of the Public Prosecutions Office and with confirmation from the city’s national security committee, which is led by Macau chief executive Sam Hou Fai, it said.