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

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.