The first “national security” case in Macau was closed-door trial on September 16, in which the defendant is pro-democracy former Legislative Council member Sulu Ao, who faces charges of “subverting state power.” Sulu Ao has been one of the main organizers of the annual June 4th candlelight vigil in Macau for 30 consecutive years.
The Macau SAR government first arrested the 69-year-old Sulu Ao using the national security law in July last year. The Macau Primary Court announced on its official website on September 11 of this year that the Criminal Court held the trial of Sulu Ao for “allegedly endangering national security” on September 16.
A reporter from Agence France-Presse (AFP) had his personal information registered by the police outside the court. The officials did not confirm whether the case had begun trial. The reporter witnessed several small vans arriving at the court but could not confirm the identities of the individuals inside the vehicles.
According to AFP, Macau expanded the scope of the “national security law” in May 2023, and a new law passed this year allows judges to conduct closed-door trials in national security cases.
In July 2026, the Macau Primary Court completed its first pretrial of a national security case, determining that pro-democracy former Legislative Council member Sulu Ao had committed three offenses, including “subversion of state power.”
Sulu Ao was arrested in July 2025. The Macau national security law came into effect in 2009 and was revised in 2023. Before that, relevant cases were never made public by the authorities. Sulu Ao’s arrest is the first case after the revision of that law.
The news release issued by the Macau authorities claimed that the arrested individual had been “colluding with an overseas anti-China organization” since 2022, providing them with “a large amount of false and provocative information” for continuous exhibitions overseas and online. The authorities also stated that the arrested person has been in long-term contact with multiple “overseas anti-China entities.”
Details of Sulu Ao’s case have been rarely disclosed. Michael Polak, the barrister representing him, said that if the hearings are conducted in a non-public manner, it would be “a mere formality.”
Earlier this year, Sulu Ao’s family had stated that they had long been unable to contact him personally or reach the lawyer appointed by the court for him.
Under the Macau national security law, the offense of “subverting state power” can carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Sulu Ao, originally a teacher, served as a Macau municipal councilor since 1993. He was elected as a directly elected member of the Legislative Council for five consecutive terms from 2001 to 2021, along with Wu Guochang, being known as key figures in the Macau pro-democracy camp.
In the 2021 Legislative Council elections, Sulu Ao announced that he would not seek re-election. His running mate, Wu Guochang, and several pro-democracy candidates were disqualified for being accused of “not being loyal to the Macau SAR.”