Ex-lawmaker Au Kam-san jailed for 12½ years in Macau’s first national security trial

Former Macau lawmaker Au Kam-san has been convicted on five out of seven charges in the city’s first national security trial, with the court anding down a 12½-year prison sentence.

The Court of First Instance in Macau on Friday found the 69-year-old guilty on four counts under the city’s national security law – subversion of state power and establishing links with foreign groups or individuals to commit activities endangering national security – as well as a fifth count of violation of secrecy.

The court acquitted Au of two counts of subversion of state power that arose from his collusion with multiple foreign organisations, according to a court press release.

The trial, the first in Macau since the casino hub enacted its domestic national security law in 2009, was held behind closed doors in September and concluded in just three days.

Au had been remanded in custody for more than a year since his arrest last July. Authorities said at the time that Au allegedly helped foreign organisations disseminate false information about Macau and arouse hatred among residents towards the government.

According to Macau police, Au was also suspected of having long-term contact with “multiple overseas anti-China entities”, disrupting the city’s 2024 chief executive election, and prompting foreign countries to take hostile actions against Macau.

His daughter reportedly alleged that Au had been denied phone calls and family visits, as well as access to a lawyer of his choosing.

Under Macau’s national security law, subversion of state power carries a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison, while establishing links with foreign groups or individuals to endanger national security is punishable by three to 10 years.

The offence of violation of secrecy under Macau’s penal code carries a maximum sentence of one year.

The pro-democracy politician in Macau, who served as a lawmaker in the city’s Legislative Assembly for two decades until 2021, was a founding member of numerous opposition groups, including the New Democratic Macau Association.

He was also a founding member of the now-dissolved Macau Union of Democratic Development, which held annual candlelight vigils commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown until local authorities banned the event in 2021.