Our desk | The crime that fits the punishment

Daniel Beitler

Sulu Sou will stand trial much quicker than I anticipated, even taking into account yesterday’s second postponement of the trial start date.

My expectation back in December was that an investigation into him would be indefinitely prolonged to keep him from being prosecuted in court – and hence returning to the Legislative Assembly – for as long as possible.

But with the case now set to begin on Tuesday next week, one can’t help but recall the 2016 case against Alan Ho, nephew of gaming magnate Stanley Ho.

Ho was sentenced to 13 months of imprisonment in a 2016 case for knowledge of prostitution activities at the Hotel Lisboa. He was cleared of other charges – most notably the charge of running a prostitution ring – but had already served 14 months in prison during the trial. It would have been inconvenient for Ho to be completely cleared from charges.

Thus the crime fits the punishment.

And this very notion – even if it is only an appearance – casts considerable concern over the case of Sou, who now stands on the knife-edge of being permanently banned as a lawmaker.

Any sentence of more than 30 days in prison would be sufficient to prevent him from ever standing again.

While the crime of “aggravated disobedience” – for allegedly walking in the road (as opposed to on the sidewalk) during a 2016 demonstration, as well as throwing a paper plane into the government headquarters complex – hardly seems to warrant a prison sentence, political pressure in Macau may tip the court’s hand.

My expectation is that an example will be made out of Sou in an attempt to silence dissenters and political activists in Macau. A symbolic punishment, no matter how unjust in a society supposedly governed by the rule of law, is not an unreasonable expectation in the MSAR.

The question is whether the symbolic sentence will be 29 days or 31.

It would have been better for Sou never to stand trial; for the investigation into him to have been stalled by Macau authorities for as long as possible.

Under the current suspension, the lawmaker cannot vote in the Legislative Assembly and is restricted from making certain types of enquiries. But he is still permitted to attend and discuss proposals.

Given that his vote is somewhat irrelevant in an assembly that is overwhelmingly pro-government, how much did he actually lose from the suspension?

At his ‘last stand’ demonstration the night before the 28-4 lawmaker vote against Sou, the young democrat promised that even if he was voted out, there were scores of other New Macau Association members who would take his place. But only four years later, at the next election.

But as the case of the 2013 Legislative Assembly election shows, other democrats – even notable ones like Jason Chao and Scott Chiang – are not necessarily enough to win a seat.

And even if the ‘next generation’ of New Macau activists can win back a seat or two at the 2021 Legislative Assembly election, it won’t be this administration’s problem anymore.