Au Kam Sun, a 69-year-old former democratic legislator in Macau, was arrested by the Macau police on July 30 last year on suspicion of providing information to "overseas anti-China organizations". Ou Jinxin is a founding member of the New Macau Society, a democratic organization in Macau. He has served as a member of the Macau Legislative Assembly for 20 years and will no longer run for election in 2021. After leaving the Parliament, Ou Kam-xin continued to pay attention to the Macau government's governance, democratic development, labor rights and social issues, and participated in and organized activities to commemorate June 4th for many years.
On Friday, the Macau Primary Court pronounced that Ou Jinxin was found guilty of "subversion of state power", "establishing contacts with organizations, groups or individuals outside the Macau Special Administrative Region to commit acts endangering national security" and "breach of confidentiality". He was sentenced to 11 years, 3 months, 3 years, 9 months and 9 months in prison respectively. In accordance with the provisions of concurrent punishment for several crimes in Macau's Penal Code, the court finally decided to sentence Ou Jinxin to 12 and a half years in prison.
The court stated in the press release of the verdict that Ou Jinxin had no objection to most of the basic facts in the earlier closed-door trial, and said that he "admitted that the factual behavior of colluding and colluding with multiple overseas organizations constituted a crime" and "agreed with the defense lawyer's opinion in his defence." The court also said that although the suspect was a first-time offender and admitted to committing a considerable part of the criminal facts, “the degree of intentionality was extremely high, and the illegality of the crime and the possible consequences were very serious.
The verdict press release stated, "Ou Jinxin has long personally assisted and cooperated with overseas hostile organizations to collect, prepare and openly disseminate many political opinions that are obviously subversive of state power, as well as false and obviously distorted pictures and information, thereby colluding with overseas hostile organizations through illegal means to conspire to incite the hatred of Macao residents against the Central People's Government in an attempt to overthrow and destroy the basic national system established in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Relevant subversive behavior continues even after the "Maintenance of National Security Law" is revised and takes effect in 2023. " In addition, the judgment press release stated that when Au Kam-xin was a member of the Legislative Council in 2021, he leaked the secret contents of closed-door meetings related to the renewal of Macau's gambling license to overseas organizations, which was consistent with the crime of "breach of confidentiality."
The Macau SAR government issued a statement after the court's verdict, expressing its respect and support for the court's decision and calling on all sectors of society to respect the court's decision.
Ou's wife, Virginia Cheang, said the ruling was unacceptable and denounced the case as a political trial in an open letter. The letter read: “From a closed trial to a public sentencing, what on earth is this? This is a political trial and a baseless persecution aimed at humiliating people's character. "
Au Hon I, the daughter of Au Jin-xin who now lives in London, previously revealed to the Associated Press that the lawyer hired by the family was unable to meet Au Jin-xin in prison, and the family has been unable to have any communication with him for nearly a year. However, the court stated that during the legal proceedings, a lawyer approved by Ou Jinxin had been assigned to represent him, and he had exercised his right to defend. The court also said that his family members should be allowed regular visits.
Michael Polak, Ou Jinxin’s international legal adviser, pointed out that Ou Jinxin, a Portuguese citizen, should not have been detained because of his non-violent beliefs; he urged Portugal and the European Union to ask that Ou Jinxin be allowed to leave Macau.
Pollack said: "The series of events set in motion by these trumped-up charges against Mr. Au amounted to nothing more than a true trial or conviction; they put Macau on par with some of the most oppressive countries in the world. "
Human Rights Watch issued a statement after the ruling, stating, “The Macau government’s unfair prosecution and harsh sentence of pro-democracy leader Au Kam-sin has had a chilling effect on all peaceful critics of the government in Macau. Macau's suppression of pro-democracy voices is part of the Chinese government's broader crackdown on dissent and basic freedoms. Wang Songlian, current deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said that Ou Jinxin suffered long-term pretrial detention, closed-door interrogation, and restrictions on the right to choose a lawyer, which shows that the judicial process of the case violated due legal process and the right to a fair trial.
Since Ou Jinxin holds Portuguese nationality (an EU citizen), the European External Action Service and the European Parliament issued a resolution in August last year condemning the arrest by the Macau authorities, saying that the move heightened concerns about the "continuous erosion of political diversity" in Macau, China. The EU also reiterated that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are core elements of the Macau Basic Law and the "one country, two systems" principle established by the former Portuguese colony.
Macau was once a Portuguese colony and returned to China in 1999 as a special administrative region. Macau has an independent political and legal system and is the only city in China where gaming is legal. The Macau authorities completed legislation for Article 23 of the Macau Basic Law in 2009 and completed the revision in 2023. The legal provisions stipulate that “the Macao Special Administrative Region shall enact legislation on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion of the Central People’s Government and theft of state secrets, prohibit foreign political organizations or groups from conducting political activities in the Macao Special Administrative Region, and prohibit political organizations or groups in the Macao Special Administrative Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or groups.” "
