Ex-Lawmaker jailed For 12 Years Over National Security Offences
Ex-Lawmaker jailed For 12 Years Over National Security Offences
Au’s wife, Virginia Cheang, condemned the judgment, describing the case as a “groundless persecution designed to humiliate Au”.
Macau has sentenced former lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in prison after convicting him of subversion and other national security offences in the city’s first case under the law.
According to BBC, the 69-year-old was convicted on Friday following a trial held behind closed doors. He was found guilty of four out of seven charges, including subverting state power and endangering national security through alleged contact with foreign organisations.
Au’s wife, Virginia Cheang, condemned the judgment, describing the case as a “groundless persecution designed to humiliate Au”. She also appealed to the authorities to allow her and other family members to maintain regular contact with him through letters and prison visits.
Prosecutors accused Au of assisting and collaborating with what they described as “external hostile organisations” by gathering, preparing and distributing information they alleged contained political claims against the Chinese state. They claimed the activities continued over an extended period.
Au was arrested in July 2025 and subsequently faced seven charges, including three counts of subverting state power, three counts of endangering national security through contact with foreign organisations and one count of breaching confidentiality.
His trial lasted three days and ended in September. The judge ordered the proceedings to be conducted privately, arguing that an open hearing could prejudice national security interests. Macau’s authorities did not publicly disclose details of the case.
Au’s family had previously told the media that he was not allowed to choose his own lawyer and had instead been assigned legal representation by the court.
In an open letter released on Friday, Cheang said she hoped the authorities would permit the family to communicate with and visit her husband regularly. She added that she had limited expectations because she feared further disappointment.
Au, a former primary school teacher, entered Macau’s Legislative Assembly in September 2001 and served for 20 years. He was among a small number of pro-democracy lawmakers in a legislature largely dominated by politicians supportive of Beijing.
He also helped organise annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. Such gatherings were previously permitted in Macau and Hong Kong but have effectively been banned following China’s tightening of national security restrictions.
Macau, a former Portuguese-administered territory, was returned to Chinese control in 1999. Its national security law took effect in 2009, criminalising treason, secession and subversion, before amendments in 2023 expanded its scope to cover non-violent acts of secession. Further changes introduced this year allowed national security trials to be conducted behind closed doors.
Au’s sentencing comes a day after Hong Kong jailed prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong for 10 years over national security offences. Wong, who has spent the past six years in custody, was a leading figure in the territory’s pro-democracy movement.
