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Macau’s youngest lawmaker Sulu Sou, suspended from office and found guilty over 2016 protest, hopes to retake his seat
Observers have compared him and his legal battles with those of disqualified lawmakers and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong
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Macau’s youngest lawmaker hopes to return to the Legislative Assembly before the summer holidays, after being fined 40,800 patacas (US$5,000) this week for organising an unauthorised protest near the official residence of the city’s leader, Fernando Chui Sai-on.
“I am ready to return to my seat,” Sulu Sou Ka-hou, 26, who only served about 50 days as a lawmaker before being suspended, told the Post. “I hope to be able to continue pressing on issues like greater government transparency, civil rights, human rights and freedoms.”
Sou, 26, is still facing uncertainty as to whether he can retake his seat because there is a 20-day appeal period.
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Observers have compared him with disqualified lawmakers and pro-democracy activists in neighbouring Hong Kong who have been involved in lengthy legal battles.
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As a legislator, Sou – who was elected in September last year with more than 9,000 votes – had immunity from prosecution. However, 28 of the 33 Legislative Assembly members voted in a secret ballot on December 4 last year to suspend him from the body so that he could stand trial. It was the first time a lawmaker in Macau had been stripped of his duties since the city’s handover from Portugal to China in 1999.
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