Macau pro-democracy activist trial Au Kam San starts today

Several police officers were mobilized this morning outside the Court of Justice of Base (TJB), where there were few journalists, who were allowed to be present on the spot, but asked for identification, observed Lusa agency.

However, the time for the session of the first national security case to be tried on the territory is not known.

Au Kam San is accused of “subversion against the political power of the State” and “establishment of links” with external entities “for the practice of acts against the security of the State,” said the TJB in July.

The trial will take place behind closed doors, you noticed this court last week: “At the request of the prosecutor and with the confirmation of the State Security Defense Commission [CDSE] of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the judge holding the case (...) decided to proceed with the trial of the case behind closed doors in order to ensure that no harm is done to the interests of State security.”.

For the crime of subversion against the political power of the state, Au risks a sentence that can reach 25 years in prison.

The former deputy was arrested on July 30, 2025 in Macau and has been in protective custody since that day.

The law that frames the CDSE, approved in March this year, imposes restrictions on the appointment of a lawyer and allows closed-door trials in cases of national security. The diploma stipulates that the choice of a lawyer for these cases is subject to the approval of a judge, who refers the application to the CDSE so that it delivers a binding and non-appealable opinion.

It is also established in this law that it is up to the judges to decide whether the trials are behind closed doors, “taking into account the damage that advertising can cause to the interests of state security and when this is confirmed by the CDSE”, a body chaired by Macau’s Chief Executive, Sam Hou Fai.

In a statement issued in July, the TJB noted that Au Kam San is being represented by an unofficial lawyer, expressly and legally approved by the CDSE.

On February 5, the director of the Macau Judicial Police assured journalists that there was enough evidence to justify the arrest of Au Kam San. “The evidence is many and we are entering the trial process, so we cannot divulge the details,” said Sit Chong Meng.

Au Kam San was one of the organizers, over more than three decades of the annual vigil – currently banned – in honor of the victims of the repression of June 4, 1989 in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

In the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2025, released at the end of August by the European External Action Service (EEAS), there are signs of bottlenecks in the civic space and democratic retreat in Macao and referred to the arrest of Au by “alleged collusion with external forces”.

“The continued emphasis on ‘patriotism’ and national security since 2019 has been further eroding fundamental freedoms and restricting the already limited space for political pluralism,” the document reads.

In September, on a visit to Macau, Portuguese Prime Minister Louis Montenegro admitted that he did not discuss the arrest of Au Kam San at a meeting with Sam Hou Fai and argued that the case requires “the necessary discretion” and “some rectum”.

Montenegro and Sam Hou Fai met again in April in Lisbon, but nothing was said publicly about the arrest of the former Portuguese-born deputy. China does not recognise dual nationality.