Stefaan Maria Joris Yolanda De Clerck (; born 12 December 1951) is a Belgian politician and former Minister of Justice of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1995 until 1998 as well, when he resigned following the escape from prison of

Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rape, serial rapist, and child sexual abuse, child molester. Initially convicted for the child abduction, abduction and rape of five young girls in 19 ...

. He has served as chairman of

Christian Democratic and Flemish Christian Democratic and Flemish (, ; CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism ( ACV) and trade associations ( UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party w ...

party and held a seat in the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 o ...

. De Clerck was mayor of

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

. Regarding re-instituting the death penalty in Belgium after the "Joker" murders of 2009, ''

GlobalPost GlobalPost Media Corporation is an American digital journalism company and former news website that focuses on international news. Founded on January 12, 2009 by Philip S. Balboni and Charles M. Sennott, its stated mission is "to redefine int ...

'' quotes De Clerck as saying: "That is not something for our times. It's not by killing somebody that we solve society's problems, just look at the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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* * 1951 births Belgian Roman Catholics Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians Mayors of Kortrijk KU Leuven alumni Living people Members of the 46th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 47th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 48th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 50th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 52nd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) {{Belgium-mayor-stub