Jean-Paul Moerman, born on 14 September 1952 in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

is a Belgian Walloon politician, member of the

Mouvement Réformateur The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest pa ...

. He is a master of Laws ( ULB, 1975), a lawyer registered at the

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

bar, a former professor at the Cours provinciaux d'administration of Hainaut Province and a member of the board of administrators of Université de Mons-Hainaut. Since 2001, Moerman is a judge at the Belgian

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

. Moerman was a lawyer at the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

from September 1975 to December 2000. He was tasked with significant criminal dossiers in the 1980s and 1990s: the acquittal of the "filière boraine" in May 1988 at the Mons court of assizes (after having obtained the divestment of

Nivelles Nivelles (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux. The Nivelles arrondissement ...

investigating judge Schlicker), affair of the "négriers du centre", etc. As the president of the

Parti Socialiste ''Parti Socialiste'' (Socialist Party) may refer to: * Parti Socialiste (Belgium) * Parti Socialiste (France) * Parti Socialiste (Mauritius) (PS), see List of political parties in Mauritius * Parti Socialiste Mauricien (PSM), see List of polit ...

"USC" (Union Socialiste Communale) in Mons, he broke with then-current socialist politics. Before the local elections of 1994, he was ejected from the PS, founded the "Mons, Démocratie et Liberté" list and joined

Jean Gol Jean Gol (; 8 February 1942 – 18 September 1995) was a Belgian politician for the liberal Walloon party Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL). He was a minister, on several occasions, in the Belgian government, including service as Deputy Prime ...

's PRL- FDF. A

Royal Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

on 16 May 2001 nominated Moerman as a judge at the Belgian constitutional court. In 2017 Moerman was proven to have ties with Azerbaijani

caviar diplomacy Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive ...

and lobbying for the regime of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. He himself conceded "having fallen in love a bit." Moerman frequently traveled to Azerbaijan and his trips were covered by the Communication Office of Azerbaijan (OCAZ), an organization founded by

Alain Destexhe Alain Destexhe (; born 19 June 1958) is a Belgian politician. He was a senator from 1995 to 2011, and remained a member of the Brussels Regional Parliament until 2019. Destexhe was a member of the liberal Mouvement Réformateur (MR) and repr ...

and Stef Goris who are known for promoting Azerbaijani interests in Europe. Moerman is known for his statements in favor of the governing regime of Azerbaijan and criticizing the reports of prominent human rights organizations such as

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. Moerman was mentioned as a member of the so-called "Habsburg group", potential lobbyists for

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, in a 21-page filing by U.S. Special Counsel

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served a ...

that was unsealed on 13 June 2018.

Political career

*Belgian

federal deputy A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-national ...

(PRL) for the Mons electoral district from 21 May 1995 to 21 May 2001. *Former member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

, PRL faction leader.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moerman, Jean-Paul 1952 births Belgian jurists Liberal Reformist Party (Belgium) politicians Living people Members of the 49th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 50th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) People from Mons, Belgium Politicians from Tournai Université libre de Bruxelles