Macau jails pro-democracy campaigner in city's first national security case

What the report says

Macau has jailed former lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Au Kam San for 12 years and six months in what BBC World News described as the city’s first national security case. According to the BBC, the 69-year-old was convicted after a closed-door trial of subversion against state power, along with other offences. His wife, Virginia Cheang, denounced the ruling and said the case was a baseless persecution.

The BBC reported that prosecutors accused Au of working with “external hostile organisations” by gathering, preparing and sharing material they said was politically subversive. He was arrested in July 2025, then charged with seven offences in total, including subversion, contact with foreign organisations that endangered national security, and breach of confidentiality. He was found guilty on four counts after a three-day trial that ended in September. A judge ordered the proceedings to be held in private, and Macau authorities did not publicly release case details.

Au was a former primary school teacher and served in Macau’s Legislative Assembly from 2001, remaining one of the few pro-democracy voices in a body dominated by pro-Beijing members. He also helped organise annual vigils marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, events that have since been effectively barred in Macau and Hong Kong. The case comes as Beijing has tightened national security rules in both cities, adding wider context to the ruling, according to the BBC.