Au Kam-san Gets 12.5-Year Prison Sentence in Macao
The former legislator was found guilty of subverting state power, a ruling that follows a closed-door trial and draws criticism from rights groups.
By Alina Campbell ·
A Macao court has sentenced former legislator Au Kam-san to 12 years and six months in prison.
The verdict was announced on Friday. The 69-year-old was found guilty of subverting state power. The trial took place behind closed doors.
Au entered public life after a career as a teacher. He spent 20 years in the local legislature, a body dominated by Beijing-aligned members. He resigned from that post in 2021. Before his arrest last year, he helped organize commemorations in Macao for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. That arrest marked the first public prosecution under Macao's national security law, a statute enacted in 2009.
The court ruled that Au spread false information between 2023 and 2024. The goal, according to the judges, was to disrupt the 2024 leadership election. The court also cited his cooperation with foreign organizations it labeled hostile. It accused him of promoting a political agenda and sharing confidential information with overseas groups.
In justifying the length of the sentence, the judges noted that Au had no prior record and admitted to many facts of the case. They argued that his intent was high and the potential consequences of his actions were very serious.
Virginia Cheang, Au's wife, issued a public letter rejecting the outcome. She called the prosecution a political trial and described the persecution as groundless. Cheang questioned why the trial was private while the verdict was public, stating the process was designed to humiliate her husband and damage his character.
Maya Wang, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, criticized the sentence. She said it sends a chilling message to those who peacefully criticize authorities. Wang urged the European Union and Portugal to push for Au's release. Both the Macao government and China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs office supported the ruling. This verdict followed a similar national security sentence in Hong Kong on Thursday, where pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong received an additional 10-year term. Macao became a special administrative region of China in 1999, after serving as a Portuguese colony.
