Macau jails ex-lawmaker Au Kam San in first security trial

Macau — A court in Macau sentenced former lawmaker and democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in prison on Friday for subversion and other offences, the first conviction under national security laws the Chinese territory widened in 2023.

Au, 69, co-organised annual vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing — commemorations previously tolerated only in Macau and neighbouring Hong Kong. He was detained in July 2025, and his closed-door trial concluded in September after three days, The Hindu reported.

A court statement said Au was found guilty of "subversion against the political power of the State" among other offences. It said he had "personally provided, over a long period of time, assistance and collaboration to external hostile organisations" in disseminating material it described as subversive, and had sought to "incite hatred among Macau residents against the Central People's Government".

The European Union condemned his arrest last year, saying it heightened concerns about the "erosion of political pluralism" in Macau. The organisation Justice Abroad said in July that Au's family, including his wife and three daughters, had not been permitted to see or speak with him since shortly after his detention, receiving only one telephone call of less than a minute the day after his arrest.

"All we ask for is a fair trial, due process, and for his more than three decades of dedication to the people of Macau not to be erased or forgotten," his daughter said in a statement quoted by The Hindu.

Au was a teacher before entering politics after the 1989 crackdown, convinced that Macau needed to become an open, democratic society. Speaking to AFP in 2024, he said: "I admit that in the fight for democracy we have accomplished nothing, but I believe in sowing seeds and giving them a chance to grow."

The verdict carries weight beyond Macau, which — like Hong Kong, where security prosecutions have mounted under a separate law imposed by Beijing — was long treated as a partial exception on commemoration and dissent. Whether Au appeals the sentence is the next decision to watch in the territory's courts.