Sulu Sou retracts ‘merely defensive’ appeal

Suspended lawmaker Sulu Sou informed via a statement yesterday that he will retract his appeal of last month’s sentencing following news that the Public Prosecution’s Office (MP) is not seeking a harsher sentence for the young democrat.

Sou and fellow activist Scott Chiang submitted a last-minute appeal to the Court of First Instance by fax in after-office hours Monday night. The duo reportedly were disinclined to appeal the sentence, but were also unsure whether the MP would file its own appeal before the June 25 deadline expired.

In a statement issued via the New Macau Association, Sou explained that his appeal was “merely defensive.”

“Specifically, it was to prevent an enhanced sentencing which might result from the MP’s appeal,” he wrote. “Since there was no appeal from the MP […] I will withdraw my appeal as planned and pay the fine as the judgment demands.”

“It is an effort to have my suspension ceased so that I could perform my duties to strive for justice and public interest on a much broader platform, just as the Macau people have mandated.”

Sou was suspended by a Legislative Assembly intervention in December last year that lifted his prosecutorial immunity and permitted him to stand trial. For more than half a year, the directly-elected lawmaker has been stripped of his voting rights.

The young lawmaker is said to believe that pursuing the appeal will serve only to delay his return to the Legislative Assembly. Instead, he will settle his fine of some MOP40,800 and take up his seat. According to several legal experts interviewed by the Times earlier this month, the suspension should be automatically lifted once the fines is paid.

Nevertheless, “despite the withdrawal, I still insist of my guiltlessness and I will elaborate this argument elsewhere,” wrote Sou.

Meanwhile, co-defendant Scott Chiang has applied to separate his part in the case so that his appeal may proceed.

“Fundamental questions about exercising our basic right to peaceful assembly and demonstration are at stake,” the statement cautioned.