Jorge Menezes
Lawmaker Sulu Sou and political activist Scott Chiang announced yesterday that Portuguese lawyer Jorge Menezes has agreed to act as their lawyer, but that he is requesting the Court of First Instance wpostpone tomorrow’s scheduled start date to allow for the necessary translation of court documents.
“In order to have the necessary time to acquaint himself with the court file, obtain translation of the relevant documents and prepare the defense, our lawyer [Menezes] has filed an urgent request […] to postpone the trial date, which is pending approval,” said a statement jointly signed by Sou and Chiang.
The two former leaders of democrat group New Macau Association, face charges of aggravated disobedience from a 2016 demonstration against the Macao Foundation’s RMB100 million donation to the mainland’s Jinan University.
Last month, lawmakers in the Legislative Assembly voted 28-4 in favor of suspending Sou, thereby lifting his prosecutorial immunity and allowing for him to be tried in a court of law.
The unprecedented vote carries ramifications for future cases against Macau lawmakers, especially given the minor nature of the alleged crime.
“According to the judicial procedure, we believe the judicial system is able to make a fair judgment for this case,” Sou told the Times late last week when asked about the upcoming case.
“We appreciate the public interest attached to this court action and the relevance that many understand it may have for Macau’s political and legal systems,” yesterday’s statement added.
“However, it has been our firm intention to respect the independence of the courts, which is a fundamental tenet of the rule of law. Facing the current, critical judicial procedure […] we do not intend to make [any] further comments.”
The Times contacted Menezes for a statement, but the lawyer would not comment on the case at this time.
In the joint statement, Sou and Chiang also expressed gratitude to two court-
appointed attorneys, Che Hoi Tong and Kuan Weng I, “for their continuous support.”
The trial was initially scheduled to begin on November 28, but was postponed while lawmakers deliberated over whether to suspend the young democrat’s mandate.
The trial will begin tomorrow if the request for postponement is denied. DB
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