Au Kam San, a former lawmaker in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison on Friday in the SAR's first national security case.

The Court of First Instance found Au guilty of subversion of state power, establishing links with organizations outside Macao to endanger national security and breaching confidentiality, according to a court statement.

Hearings were held on September 16 and 18. Au did not dispute most of the proven facts underlying the charges and acknowledged that his collusion with several external organizations constituted criminal conduct, the court said.

Friday's verdict was announced publicly, with members of the public, journalists and Au's family attending.