Macau to announce verdict on first national security case involving former lawmaker

Former Macau lawmaker Au Kam San, a pro-democracy figure in the Chinese casino hub, was detained in July 2025 on charges including subversion. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 05 Nov 2026 8:24 PM MYT

MACAU, Nov 5 — Macau will announce the verdict in its first national security trial on Friday, against former city lawmaker Au Kam San, authorities said in a statement.

Au, a pro-democracy figure in the Chinese casino hub, was detained in July 2025 on charges including subversion.

He was the first person arrested under expanded national security laws, which the former Portuguese colony enacted in 2023. He is also the first to face such a trial behind closed doors, under another law passed this year.

Au, 69, was one of the organisers of Macau’s annual vigils in memory of the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

Macau, which reverted to China in 1999, and neighbouring Hong Kong were once the only places in China where such public commemorations could take place.

Au charged with “subversion of state power” as well as building links with external groups and individuals, Macau’s Court of First Instance said in a statement on Thursday.

He has also been accused of a third offence of “breaching confidentiality”.

His trial concluded in September and lasted just three days. — AFP