Macau Sentences Former Lawmaker Au Kam San to 12½ Years in First National Security Case

A single sentence after four separate penalties

The court imposed one term of 12 years and six months. Its statement lists four separate penalties: 11 years and three months for subversion; three years and nine months for each of two offences involving links with organisations or individuals outside Macau to carry out acts endangering national security; and nine months for breach of secrecy. The court said it combined the penalties under Article 71 of Macau’s Criminal Code. Reuters and local reporting confirmed that the result was one consolidated sentence, not four consecutive terms simply added together.

The distinction matters: 12 years and six months is the final combined sentence, while the individual terms show how the court reached it. The court identified the national-security law as Law No. 2/2009, as amended by Law No. 8/2023. Macau’s government said after the ruling that it respected and supported the sentence and would continue enforcing the law.

Sources: O Tribunal Judicial de Base proferiu hoje de manhã acórdão no primeiro processo relativo à segurança do Estado e condenou o arguido Au Kam San na pena de prisão de 12 anos e 6 meses · The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region firmly supports the judicial authorities in ruling the first national security case in accordance with the law · Macau ex-lawmaker sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in city's first national security trial · Au Kam San sentenced to 12 years and six months in city’s first national security case · Ex-lawmaker gets 12 ½ years in Macau's first national security trial

What the seven-count indictment produced

The prosecution filed its indictment on March 27, 2026. After a supplementary investigation and preliminary hearing, an examining judge confirmed the charges on July 2. The indictment contained three counts of subversion, three counts of establishing links with outside organisations or individuals to commit acts endangering national security, and one count of violating secrecy.

The court’s disposition is more precise than a simple tally. It convicted Au of one subversion count, two external-link offences and one secrecy offence. It acquitted him of two further subversion counts because the evidence did not establish that his conduct reached the statutory threshold of overthrowing or undermining the state’s fundamental system. A separate external-link offence arising from the same conduct as the subversion count was not punished independently: the court treated the offences as an apparent concurrence and applied the more serious subversion offence. The result was four separately sentenced convictions, two acquittals and one overlapping count absorbed by the subversion finding—not five distinct punishments.

Sources: O Tribunal Judicial de Base proferiu hoje de manhã acórdão no primeiro processo relativo à segurança do Estado e condenou o arguido Au Kam San na pena de prisão de 12 anos e 6 meses · Macau ex-lawmaker sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in city's first national security trial · Au Kam San sentenced to 12 years and six months in city’s first national security case · Ex-lawmaker gets 12 ½ years in Macau's first national security trial

The conduct described by the court

Prosecutors alleged that, between 2023 and 2024, Au helped several organisations outside Macau gather and publicly circulate images and information they described as false or distorted, with the aim of prompting hostile action by foreign governments, inciting hatred towards the Central People’s Government and disrupting Macau’s 2024 chief-executive election. The court’s public summary says it found the conduct proved and characterised the material as politically subversive, false and distorted. Those descriptions are the prosecution’s allegations and the court’s stated findings; the underlying material was not independently available for review.

The separate secrecy conviction concerned 2021, when Au was a member of Macau’s Legislative Assembly. The court said he disclosed confidential information to an outside organisation after attending a closed meeting of the Assembly’s Follow-up Committee on Land and Public Concessions concerning the renewal of gaming concessions. It found that the disclosure met the elements of breach of secrecy under Article 348 of the Macau Criminal Code.

Sources: O Tribunal Judicial de Base proferiu hoje de manhã acórdão no primeiro processo relativo à segurança do Estado e condenou o arguido Au Kam San na pena de prisão de 12 anos e 6 meses · Former pro-democracy lawmaker sentenced to 12 1/2 years in Macao’s 1st national security case · Au Kam San sentenced to 12 years and six months in city’s first national security case

Closed hearings and a dispute over due process

The trial hearings took place on September 16 and 18 behind closed doors. The Associated Press reported that prosecutors requested a closed hearing and Macau’s national security committee approved it. The judgment was read publicly on November 6. The court said it appointed a lawyer after Au did not retain one himself, that Au accepted the appointed lawyer, and that he was able to exercise his defence rights. It also said his family had been authorised to visit him regularly.

Au’s international counsel, London barrister Michael Polak, and Justice Abroad dispute the fairness of the process. In a November 6 statement, Polak called it a “sham trial” that “brings shame upon Macao”, saying Au was denied an independent lawyer and the private hearing prevented public scrutiny. Justice Abroad also said he had been held incommunicado for almost 12 months. Those claims differ from the court’s account that Au accepted appointed counsel and that family visits had been authorised. The full written judgment was not located; this report relies on the court’s public summary and independent reporting, not on a claim to have read the complete judgment.

Sources: O Tribunal Judicial de Base proferiu hoje de manhã acórdão no primeiro processo relativo à segurança do Estado e condenou o arguido Au Kam San na pena de prisão de 12 anos e 6 meses · Macau ex-lawmaker sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in city's first national security trial · Former pro-democracy lawmaker sentenced to 12 1/2 years in Macao’s 1st national security case · Ex-lawmaker gets 12 ½ years in Macau's first national security trial · Macao: Pro-Democracy Ex-Senator Mr Au Kam San 'Convicted' and Sentenced to 12 Years and 6 Months Imprisonment in Sham Trial for 'National Security' Offences

A former lawmaker and a record of public commemoration

Au, a former primary-school teacher, served in Macau’s Legislative Assembly for 20 years, from 2001 to 2021. He is a Portuguese citizen. Human Rights Watch says the Macao Union of Democratic Development, the group with which Au was associated, organised annual vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown for three decades. The group disbanded in 2023 under government pressure, according to the organisation. Macau’s Court of Final Appeal upheld a ban on the annual vigil in 2021.

The case is the first publicly known prosecution under Macau’s national-security law since its adoption in 2009, according to the Associated Press and the European Union’s 2025 statement on Au’s arrest. The law was amended in 2023. The EU condemned the arrest of the former lawmaker, an EU citizen, and said it added to concerns about the erosion of political pluralism and freedom of speech. That statement addressed the arrest in August 2025, not the sentence announced on November 6.

Sources: Former pro-democracy lawmaker sentenced to 12 1/2 years in Macao’s 1st national security case · Macao: Statement by the Spokesperson on the arrest of Au Kam San · Macao: Ex-Lawmaker Held on National Security Charge · Macau democrat arrested for colluding with foreign 'anti-China' forces

Official support, criticism and a separate Hong Kong case

Macau’s government said it respected and supported the ruling, urged the public to respect the judgment and described safeguarding national security as a constitutional responsibility. It said it would continue to “strictly implement” the law and punish conduct endangering national security. The court’s statement emphasised that Au had legal representation and that family visits had been authorised. These are the authorities’ stated positions, not independent assessments of the proceedings.

Polak’s Justice Abroad statement described the trial as illegitimate and argued that Au should be allowed to leave Macau. Human Rights Watch said the sentence would send a chilling message to peaceful critics and urged foreign governments to press for his release. The EU’s earlier concerns about political pluralism provide context, but should be dated to the arrest rather than presented as a new verdict-day statement.

The sentence came one day after Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong received a 10-year prison term under Hong Kong’s separate national-security law. Reuters reported that Wong pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in a different case. The timing places the sentences in the same regional news cycle, but the prosecutions involved different defendants, legal systems and charges.

Sources: The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region firmly supports the judicial authorities in ruling the first national security case in accordance with the law · Former pro-democracy lawmaker sentenced to 12 1/2 years in Macao’s 1st national security case · Macao: Statement by the Spokesperson on the arrest of Au Kam San · Macao: Pro-Democracy Ex-Senator Mr Au Kam San 'Convicted' and Sentenced to 12 Years and 6 Months Imprisonment in Sham Trial for 'National Security' Offences · Macao: Ex-Lawmaker Held on National Security Charge · Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong gets 10 years in jail on national security charge