P1090581 2012 08 19 manifestatie martin lejeune

Jean-Denis Lejeune (born 1959) is the father of Julie Lejeune, who was abducted along with Mélissa Russo in Belgium on 24 June 1995, and imprisoned in

Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thr ...

's cellar. She was eight years old at the time. She died, probably of starvation, sometime between 6 December 1995 and 20 March 1996. The bodies were found on 17 August 1996.

Background

In June 1996 Lejeune began work on the creation of a missing children helpline, which by 1998 was operational as

Child Focus {{More citations needed, date=December 2019 Child Focus (or the European Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children) is a Belgian foundation that supports prevention and investigation of missing children, abducted children, runaway children ...

, the European Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children. Lejeune was one of the leaders of a massive protest march (the "

White March The White March (french: Marche blanche; nl, Witte Mars; german: Weißer Marsch) was a demonstration in Brussels on 20 October 1996 after serial killer and criminal Marc Dutroux was arrested. The demonstrators wanted better protection for chil ...

") of an estimated 300,000 people in Brussels, on 20 October 1996, in which demands were made for reforms of Belgium's police and

justice system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and ...

. Since 2005, Lejeune has been working with

Claude Lelièvre Claude Lelièvre (born 19 May 1946) is the Commissioner for Children Rights of the French (i.e., French-speaking) Community of Belgium, an office similar to the Children's Ombudsman agencies elsewhere. In 1994, he falsely denounced Belgian journal ...

, the Commissioner for Children Rights of the French (i.e. French-speaking) Community of Belgium. Lejeune is active in politics through the

Humanist Democratic Centre Humanist Democratic Centre (french: Centre Démocrate Humaniste, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist French-speaking political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) w ...

party. He was a candidate in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 13 June 2010, on the same list as

Melchior Wathelet Melchior H. M. J. F. C. Wathelet (born 6 March 1949) is a Belgian politician and member of the Humanist Democratic Centre who served as 4th Minister-President of Wallonia. He has degrees in law and in economics (University of Liège) and is a M ...

, the son of

, who as minister of justice had prematurely released Marc Dutroux. Lejeune became an advisor on energy and environment in the department of Belgian State Secretary Melchior Wathelet (the younger). Lejeune is active in projects in developing countries. Most notably Objectif Ô, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

which aims to provide drinking water in developing countries. Objectif Ô is not recognised by the Belgian government, so it can not make claim to grants. In 2014 Lejeune was elected as a municipal councillor in

Flémalle Flémalle (; wa, Flémåle) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Flémalle had a total population of 25,140. The total area is 36.68 km² which gives a population density of 685 inha ...

. In 2007 Lejeune published a book in memory of his daughter titled: ''Dis à ma fille'' (''Tell My Daughter''). Lejeune has since separated from the mother of Julie, Louisa. In 2012 he married Alao Kasongo. Best man was

Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who recently managed the Iran national team and is now active at Raja CA. During his club career as attacking midfielder, he won trophies w ...

. The couple have a daughter named Nouma.

References

1959 births Living people Walloon people {{Belgium-bio-stub

Background

See also

References