// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Macau jails pro-democracy campaigner in city's first national security case
Au was sentenced to 12 years and six months' jail for "subversion against the political power of the state"
Macau has sentenced an ex-lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner to 12 years and six months' jail in the city's first national security case.
Following a closed-door trial, Au Kam San, 69, was convicted on Friday of "subversion against the political power of the state", among other offences.
His wife Virginia Cheang condemned the ruling, calling the case a "groundless persecution designed to humiliate Au".
Macau was handed back to China in 1999, ending over 400 years of Portuguese administration. Its national security law came into effect in 2009, criminalising acts of treason, secession, and subversion against the Chinese Communist Party.
The law was revised in 2023, broadening its scope to include non-violent acts of secession, and again this year, to allow for trials to be held behind closed doors.
Prosecutors had accused Au of assisting and collaborating with "external hostile organisations" by collecting, preparing and disseminating information that was "manifestly filled with political claims of a subversive nature against the state".
These took place "over a long period of time", the prosecutors claim.
Au was arrested in July 2025 and later charged with three counts of subverting the state's power, three counts of endangering national security by establishing contact with foreign organisations, and one count of breach of confidentiality.
He was found guilty of four of the seven charges following a three-day trial which ended in September. A judge had ordered that the trial be held behind closed doors "to ensure that no prejudice is caused to the interests of national security".