EU condemns detention of former Portuguese MP in Macau

The European Union condemned this Saturday the detention of former Macau MP and Portuguese citizen Au Kam San, accused of violating the law on the defense of state security, admitting concern about the erosion of freedoms in the region.

“The EU [European Union] condemns the arrest of Au Kam San, an EU citizen and former member of parliament from Macau, on July 30 on charges of violating the National Security Law,” a spokesperson for the Brussels Diplomatic Service said in a statement released this Saturday.

Stressing that this “constitutes the first application of the National Security Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region since its adoption in 2009”, the European External Action Service stated that the event “aggravates existing concerns about the continued erosion of political pluralism and freedom of expression” in the region.

Brussels "recalls that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a central element of Macau's Basic Law and the maxim 'one country, two systems'," the statement added.

EU diplomacy also recalls China's duty to respect that the premise of respect for the rights of Macau residents was also established through the 1987 Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The case is being monitored by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which assured, through an official source, that "the matter will receive the best attention from the Portuguese authorities, especially in future meetings at the political level, in the spirit of the Joint Declaration."

The former pro-democracy lawmaker was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of violating the National Security Law and is currently in pre-trial detention.

"The police handed over to the Public Prosecutor's Office an individual from Macau who allegedly colluded with anti-China external forces, who, following the preliminary investigation, is being held in preventive detention on suspicion of violating the law on the defense of state security," the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) said in a statement released on Thursday.

The coercive measure, the Public Prosecutor's Office continued, was applied due to "strong evidence of the practice of the crime of establishing links with organizations, associations or individuals from outside" Macau "to commit acts against State security."

Au Kam San is suspected, according to police, of providing an "anti-China organization" with "a large amount of false information of a provocative nature, for public display abroad and online on social media."