Sou, Chiang file last-minute appeal

The Court of First Instance

Defendants Sulu Sou and Scott Chiang have submitted a last-minute appeal to the Court of First Instance against their sentencing late last month.

The defendants, who were found guilty of the crime of unlawful assembly and sentenced to 120 days worth of fines, notified the court of the appeal via fax at around 9 p.m. on Monday night.

Meanwhile, the Court confirmed that the Public Prosecution’s Office (MP) is not appealing the decision.

“The Court of First Instance received only the motive of the appeal lodged at night of June 25, 2018 and via fax, by the two defendants Chiang Meng Hin and Sou Ka Hou,” a statement on the Macau judiciary website read. Yesterday, the original document was delivered to the court’s office, according to the statement.

Several sources claim the defense was unsure whether the MP would file an appeal before the deadline expired.

On previous occasions, Sulu Sou stated that he would be prepared to refrain from appealing if he could be sure that the MP would do the same. Observers are speculating that the defense filed the appeal in response to a lack of communication on the behalf of the MP.

As such, some political commentators are speculating that the defense may retract the appeal shortly.

However, according to public broadcaster TDM, both Sou and Chiang must decide to either jointly maintain or withdraw the appeal, as it can not be presented by one and not the other.

Lawmakers in the Macau SAR normally enjoy prosecutorial immunity that prevents charges from being brought against them. However, Sou was suspended by a Legislative Assembly intervention in December last year, which lifted his immunity and permitted him to stand trial.