Macao has jailed former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San for 12 and a half years, in the first case ever brought under the territory's national security law. The 69-year-old was sentenced on Friday 6 November by Macao's Court of First Instance after a trial held entirely behind closed doors.

Au was found guilty of subversion of state power, of establishing links with foreign groups or individuals to commit acts endangering national security, and of breaching confidentiality. He was convicted on four of seven charges, and acquitted on two further counts of subversion because the evidence was insufficient.

He was arrested in July 2025, the first publicly known prosecution under Macao's national security law since it was enacted in 2009. He was tried in secret on 16 and 18 September, and the court has released almost no detail about the evidence or its reasoning.

The court said the sentence range for the combined offences ran from 11 years and three months to 19 years and six months, and imposed a single consolidated term of 12 years and six months. It said that although Au was a first-time offender who had admitted a considerable part of the facts, his degree of intent was extremely high and both the unlawfulness of his conduct and its potential consequences were exceptionally grave.

According to a court statement, Au helped overseas organisations spread false and distorted information between 2023 and 2024, in an effort to push foreign countries to take hostile action against China and Macao, to stir up hatred against the central government and to undermine the smooth running of the 2024 election for the city's leader. As a lawmaker in 2021, the court said, he leaked confidential information from closed-door committee meetings about the renewal of Macao's gaming licences to groups outside the territory.

Au, a former teacher, served for 20 years in Macao's legislature after first being elected in 2001, and stepped down in 2021. He was one of the territory's most prominent pro-democracy voices and an organiser of its annual vigils marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. Friends and family described him as a mild critic who regularly raised everyday problems in interviews and on social media.

His wife, Virginia Cheang, called the case a groundless persecution in a public letter, saying she only hoped the authorities would let the family exchange letters with Au and visit him regularly without conditions. His daughter in London, Au Hon I, told reporters her father was a peaceful family man and that the thought of him spending more time in prison was unbearable. His international counsel, Michael Polak, urged Portugal and the European Union to demand that Au, who holds Portuguese nationality, be allowed to leave Macao, saying a sentence of that length for a man of his age was effectively a life sentence.

Human Rights Watch said the proceedings were marred by violations of due process and that the sentence sends a chilling message to all peaceful critics in the territory. The Macao government defended the verdict and said it would continue to enforce the security law strictly, while Beijing's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said the ruling showed Macao's firm resolve in safeguarding national security.

The sentencing came a day after Hong Kong jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong for 10 years under its own national security law. In February, media tycoon Jimmy Lai was jailed for 20 years in Hong Kong for collusion with foreign forces and sedition. Pro-democracy voices in both Chinese territories have faced an intense crackdown since Hong Kong's 2019 protest movement, although Macao's movement was long seen as smaller and more restrained than its neighbour's.

Macao, a former Portuguese colony returned to Chinese rule in 1999, is the only Chinese city where casino gambling is legal. Its national security law, which criminalises treason, secession and subversion, was tightened in 2023 and amended again this year to allow trials to be held behind closed doors.