Macao: Pro-Democracy Ex-Senator Mr Au Kam San 'Convicted' and Sentenced to 12 Years and 6 Months Imprisonment in Sham Trial for 'National Security' Offences
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6 November 2026
On 6 November 2026 it was announced by the Macao Authorities that Mr Au Kam San, a former pro-democracy lawmaker, had been convicted of national security law offences and was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months imprisonment.
The sham procedure that was used against Mr Au Kam San included almost 12 months of incommunicado detention following his seizure from his home along with a number of pro-democracy books on 30 July 2025. This was followed by a ‘trial’ which began on 16 September 2026 and lasted only two days, despite the seriousness of the charges, and the potential consequences for Mr Au.
At this trial:
a. Mr Au was denied the right to an independent lawyer;
b. he was prosecuted under the vague national security law provisions which fail the international standards in relation to certainty and specificity required to prevent national security provisions from being used as a guise for governments to simply bring cases against those who they do not like for exercising their freedom of expression and association; and
c. the ‘hearing’ was held in private which prevented any scrutiny of the Macao Authorities’ ‘evidence’ and created a scenario whereby they could present anything, or nothing at all to the Court and a conviction was inevitable.
There remains an outstanding case before the United Nations bodies following a submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Belief on Mr Au’s behalf on 11 September 2026, where the Macao authorities have been accused of breaching fair trial standards and persecuting Mr Au for his non-violent beliefs, rather than for any genuine criminal act. The submission also argued the detention of Mr Au, before “trial” and following the inevitable “conviction” is arbitrary and unlawful under a number of established bases set out by the Working Group for assessing the legality of detention.
Mr Au Kam San, 69, is a retired schoolteacher and former member of Macao’s Legislative Assembly. He served as a pro-democracy lawmaker for approximately two decades and was associated with the New Macao Association until retiring from politics in 2021. He later continued writing and teaching but was reportedly forced to leave teaching because of his pro-democracy beliefs. Mr Au was seized from his home along with a number of pro-democracy books on 30 July 2025 and kept in incommunicado detention for almost 1 year.
Michael Polak, Director of Justice Abroad and a barrister based in London who acts as Mr Au’s international counsel, commented on the end of Mr Au’s ‘trial’:
“Mr Au has been convicted after a sham trial which brings shame upon Macao and will affect how the territory is viewed globally from a rule of law perspective. Mr Au should never have been seized and detained for his non-violent beliefs, including that the people of Macao should have some say in their future.
What has taken place in relation to the manufactured allegations against Mr Au cannot be described as a trial or conviction in any meaningful sense of those words and brings Macao in line with the most repressive states around the world, where the executive has the power to imprison those with whom it disagrees, with no semblance of a proper, fair legal process.
Mr Au is a Portuguese citizen, and Portugal and the European Union should demand that he be allowed to leave Macao rather than spend over a decade in prison for non-existent crimes.”
Notes for the Press
For comments on this case by the lawyer, Michael Polak, please email contact@justiceabroad.co.uk
Michael Polak
Michael Polak is an international barrister based in London. He practises in international, criminal, and human rights law from Church Court Chambers. Michael is also Director of Justice Abroad which helps people who need assistance dealing with legal proceedings overseas as well as working on human rights advocacy for groups and individuals. He is chair of the group Lawyers for Uyghur Rights, and was awarded the International Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for 2021.