A court in Macao has sentenced 69-year-old former pro-democracy politician and legislator Au Kam-san to 12 years and six months in prison following a secretive national security trial. The ruling, delivered on Friday, found the veteran activist guilty of subverting state power by purportedly disseminating false information between 2023 and 2024 to disrupt Macao’s leadership election. According to the court's statement, the defendant allegedly coordinated with overseas hostile entities to promote a subversive political agenda and leaked confidential state data.
Key Takeaways: Former Macao politician Au Kam-san was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison following a closed-door trial; the court claimed he attempted to subvert state power and disrupt local elections; human rights advocates condemned the verdict as political persecution.
The judicial statement asserted that despite being a first-time offender who admitted to certain criminal facts, the defendant demonstrated a high degree of unlawful intent with severe potential societal consequences. Meanwhile, the defendant's wife, Virginia Cheang, strongly denounced the proceedings in an open letter, characterizing the trial as a baseless persecution designed to humiliate her husband's character. Au's initial arrest marked the first high-profile public prosecution under Macao's contentious 2009 security legislation.
Au, a former schoolteacher, served in Macao's pro-Beijing legislature for two decades before resigning in 2021. He is also known for helping organize local commemorations of Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. This harsh sentencing comes merely a day after prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was handed an additional 10-year prison sentence under similar national security provisions.
International observers and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, criticized the ruling, arguing it sends a chilling signal to any remaining peaceful critics in the former Portuguese colony. Conversely, authorities in Macao and Beijing’s liaison offices strongly backed the judicial decision. Further international diplomatic friction regarding the erosion of autonomous freedoms in the special administrative region is anticipated.
Source: www.aljazeera.com