This morning, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of the Lower Court (TJB) of the Court of First First Instance (TPI) handed down its judgment in the first case involving offences against the national security of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
The judgment was read out in public at the Court of First Instance on the Macau Peninsula.
At 10:20 a.m., the 69-year-old defendant, Au Kam San, escorted by prison guards, entered the courtroom and took his seat in the dock.
Four of Au’s family members and several dozen members of the public attended to hear the reading of the judgment.
The presiding judge of the collegiate bench read out the judgment, which took about half an hour. After the reading was completed, Au was escorted out of the courtroom by prison guards.
During the sentencing hearing, the Presiding Judge noted that this was the first case involving a violation of the Law on Safeguarding National Security since the establishment of the MSAR. She pointed out that throughout the judicial proceedings, the court appointed Au’s defence counsel in accordance with the law to represent him.
The court convicted Au, a teacher by profession, of one count of "subversion of State power", two counts of "establishing ties with organisations, associations, or individuals outside the MSAR to commit acts against national security", and one count of "breach of secrecy". Based on the sentencing concept of legal concurrence (known in Portuguese as “cúmulo jurídico”, also known in English as joinder of sentence) of his convictions, the defendant was sentenced to a single joint penalty of 12 years and 6 months' imprisonment, the presiding judge said.
After hearing his sentence, Au was driven back to his cell in Macau’s central prison in Coloane.
The trial, which started on September 16 and concluded on September 18, was held behind closed doors “in order to ensure that no prejudice is caused to the interests of national security”, according to a previous court statement.
Macau-born Au served as a directly elected member of Macau's Legislative Assembly (AL) for 20 years, spanning five consecutive terms from September 2001 to September 2021. He chose not to run for re-election in 2021, retiring from the legislature at the end of his fifth term. In July 2025, Au was arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ) for alleged collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security.
Macau’s national security law – the Law on Safeguarding National Security – was enacted in 2009 and amended in 2023.
The court has granted his family permission to visit him regularly in prison.
Caption: A prison van arrives at Macau's Court of First Instance (TPI) near Sai Van Lake this morning ahead of the sentencing of former lawmaker Au Kam San over national security law violations. - Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
