Macau sentenced pro-democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months.
Why it matters: The case is the first prosecution under Macau's national-security law since its 2009 enactment. It offers a test of legal exposure for civil-society figures and organizations with overseas contacts or information involving Macau's political institutions.
- Au, 69, was convicted November 6, 2026, and received a combined sentence of 12 years and six months.
- The court imposed individual terms of 11 years and three months for subversion, three years and nine months for each of two external-link offenses, and nine months for breach of confidentiality.
- The case is Macau's first prosecution and conviction under its national-security law since the law was enacted in 2009.
- The trial was held behind closed doors on September 16 and 18; Au was acquitted of two additional subversion charges.
Macau's Court of First Instance sentenced former lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in prison in the first prosecution under the territory's national-security law since its enactment in 2009, according to the Macau government's official announcement.
The court convicted Au of subversion of state power, two offenses involving links with organizations or individuals outside Macau, and breach of confidentiality. The charges covered alleged efforts to undermine the state system, alleged cooperation or communication with outside organizations or people, and disclosure of confidential information.
The court listed individual sentences of 11 years and three months for subversion, three years and nine months for each external-link offense, and nine months for breach of confidentiality. Those terms total 19 years and six months, but the court combined them into a final sentence of 12 years and six months. The materials do not specify which terms ran concurrently or whether credit for time served was applied.
Au was acquitted of two additional subversion charges. The court said it remained doubtful whether those allegations met the legal threshold for overthrowing or undermining the state system and applied the presumption of innocence.
According to the court, Au worked with overseas organizations in 2023 and 2024 to collect and disseminate information authorities called false or distorted, encourage hostile action by foreign countries, incite hatred toward China's central government and disrupt Macau's 2024 chief-executive election. The Associated Press reported on the allegations and verdict in its account of the case.
Au was arrested July 30, 2025, in the first publicly known arrest under Macau's law, which was substantially amended in 2023. He served in the legislature from 2001 to 2021 and helped organize annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown for roughly three decades, according to Human Rights Watch.
By the numbers
- 12 years, six months - Au's combined prison sentence
- 2009 - Year Macau enacted its national-security law
- 2023 - Year the law was substantially amended
Yes, but: The individual sentences total 19 years and six months, but the court combined them into a final sentence of 12 years and six months. The materials do not specify how the terms will run or whether time served will be credited.