Macau, China, July 7, 2026 (Lusa) - Three reporters from the now-defunct online newspaper All About Macau are due to stand trial on 16 July and face sentences of up to three years’ imprisonment, accused of “disrupting the functioning” of the local parliament.

According to the Macau courts’ website, which Lusa consulted on Tuesday, Ricardo Carvalho is representing the journalists at the Court of First Instance.

The Portuguese lawyer confirmed to Lusa that he had taken on the case, but he did not disclose any further details.

Police detained two journalists from All About Macau on 17 April 2025 whilst they attempted to enter the chamber of the local parliament, the Legislative Assembly.

Authorities prevented the reporters from attending the presentation of the 2025 policy programme on Administration and Justice, allegedly because all seats in the chamber were occupied – a claim the publication disputed.

The Public Prosecution Service charged the journalists with “disrupting the functioning of the organs of the Macau Special Administrative Region”, an offence carrying a maximum sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment.

Lusa requested further information from the Public Prosecutor, including the grounds for the charges against the third journalist from All About Macau, but the Public Prosecutor did not provide a response.

The online newspaper and monthly print publication announced its closure at the end of October due to “growing pressure”, a lack of resources and legal proceedings against three of its journalists.

Three months later, the government announced the cancellation of the publication’s registration, without publicly disclosing the reasons.

In 1999, Macau came under Chinese administration under an agreement with Portugal, which stipulated that the region should maintain fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of the press, for the first 50 years.

Following the arrests, the Society of European Journalists and Communication Professionals in Asia (JOCPA) told Lusa that Portugal could have made “a discreet gesture or expressed concern” regarding the arrest of these journalists.

“We find Portugal’s silence worrying, given its deep historical and cultural ties with Macau,” lamented JOCPA’s president, Josep Solano.

“This unprecedented situation is sad and concerns us, as we believe it sets a precedent that is, at the very least, embarrassing,” the president of the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association also told Lusa.

In April 2025, José Miguel Encarnação asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to “exercise discretion in assessing the facts, so that there are no further consequences”.

The Macau Journalists’ Association stated at the time that it “deeply regrets” the detention of the reporters, including the organisation’s president, Island Ian Sio Tou.

In November, officials at the Court of Second Instance prevented Island Ian, former editor-in-chief of All About Macau, from attending the trial of former deputy prosecutor Kong Chi on corruption charges.

VQ/ADB // ADB.

Lusa