Macau national security trial set behind closed doors

Macau was due to begin its first closed-door national security trial on Wednesday, with former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San facing subversion and other charges.

Au, 69, was detained in July 2025 and was the first person arrested under Macau's expanded national security laws. He has been charged with subversion of state power, as well as building ties with foreign groups and media outlets that authorities say endanger China.

A judge decided last week to hold the trial in private to ensure national security interests were not compromised, according to judicial authorities. Macau expanded the scope of its national security laws in May 2023, and a bill passed this year allows judges to hear national security cases behind closed doors.

An AFP reporter outside the court on Wednesday had their details registered by police. Officials did not confirm whether the case had started. AFP saw several vans arriving at the court, but it was not clear who was inside.

Michael Polak, a London-based barrister representing Au, said holding the hearings in private would be “a sham process”. Polak's group said earlier this year that prosecutors' allegations appeared to arise from Au's peaceful political activity, belief in democracy and regular meetings with the Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macau.

The European Union has condemned Au's arrest, saying it heightened concerns about the “erosion of political pluralism” in the territory.

Au was one of the organisers of annual vigils in Macau to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Macau, a former Portuguese territory that reverted to China in 1999, and Hong Kong were once the only places in China where such public commemorations could take place.

Polak's advocacy group said authorities last year seized pro-democracy books and material related to the Tiananmen crackdown from Au's home. Au's family said earlier this year that they had long been unable to contact him or his court-appointed lawyer.

Eilo Yu, a Macau political scientist, said the closed-door trial was sending a chilling message as authorities attempted to “shrink the entire civic space to its absolute minimum”.

Under Macau's security law, subversion offences carry a prison term of up to 25 years.