Johan Deckmyn | |
|---|---|
 Deckmyn at Ghent city hall | |
| Member of the Flemish Parliament | |
| Assumed office 2019 | |
| Member of the Flemish Parliament | |
| In office 2004–2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 December 1967 Ghent,Belgium |
| Political party | Vlaams Belang |
| Alma mater | University of Antwerp |
Johan Deckmyn (born 21 December 1967) is a Belgian-Flemish politician and a member of the Vlaams Belang party.
Deckmyn studied computer science at Hogeschool Gent before becoming the director of an IT company. [1] [2]
Deckmyn became active in the Vlaams Blok Jongeren, the youth wing of the former Vlaams Blok party and the nationalist student association VSG (Flemish Students Ghent) in the 1980s. [2] In 1994,he became a provincial councilor in East Flanders for Vlaams Blok. [3] In 2004,he was elected to the Flemish parliament for the reconfigured Vlaams Belang party and remained in this role until 2014. In 2019,he was re-elected to the Flemish parliament. Since 2011,he has been the group chairman of Vlaams Belang in the Ghent city council. [3]
On 9 January 2011, Deckmyn produced a parody of the Suske & Wiske comic De Wilde Weldoener (The Wild Benefactor) which was distributed on calendars to guests attending the Vlaams Belang New Year's reception in Ghent. Subsequently, Suske & Wiske's publisher WPG Uitgevers filed a lawsuit against Deckmyn for copyright infringement and as Willy Vandersteen, the author of the comic, had written in his will that his comics could never be used for political purposes.. In the first instance Deckmyn was convicted, however he appealed the verdict. The case was dropped in 2019 for taking too long. [4] [5] [6]
At the end of 2011, Deckmyn and fellow Vlaams Belang politician Tanguy Veys visited the Turkish town of Emirdağ as part of a campaign called Emirdağ needs you in which the Vlaams Belang chapter in Ghent wanted to convince people of Turkish origin to return to Turkey. During the visit, Deckmyn spoke to local MPs and the mayor of the Emirdağ. The trip led to Ghent councilor and sp.a politician Resul Tapmaz (who is of Turkish descent) making insulting statements about Vlaams Belang. Deckmyn filed a complaint against Tapmaz for slander and defamation. The court ruled that Tapmaz's statements were offensive but were not defamation and dismissed the complaint. [7] [8]
Vlaams Blok was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. The party originated from split within the Volksunie (VU) party after the right-wing separatist and national conservative wing became disgruntled with the compromise of accepting Belgian federalism over Flemish interests, and what they saw as the VU's move to the left. The former VU members created the Flemish National Party (VNP) and the Flemish People's Party (VVP) which formed an electoral alliance called Vlaams Blok in 1978, before merging to create Vlaams Blok as a political party in 1979. Vlaams Blok was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement and its track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliament elections was strong, making it one of the most successful nationalist parties in Western Europe and it ultimately surpassed the People's Union in support. The party initially focused solely on the issues of Flemish autonomy and political freedom, which remained its core philosophy, but subsequently gained wider public support through broadening its campaigns to include immigration and law-and-order themes.
Vlaams Belang is a Flemish nationalist, and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered to be on the political far-right.
Frieda Leontine Mauritia Van Themsche was a member of the Belgian federal parliament.
Hans Van Themsche is a Belgian student who, on 11 March, 2006, shot three people, killing two and severely injuring another, before being shot by police and incapacitated. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2008.
Alexandra Maria Catherine Colen is a Belgian politician. She was member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the Vlaams Belang party from 21 May 1995 until May 2014. She holds a PhD in linguistics, and is known for her advocacy of strict Catholic ethics.
Karim Van Overmeire is a Flemish politician, author, city planner and member of the New Flemish Alliance party.
Jef Elbers is a Flemish singer, script writer, and political activist.
Johan Deckmyn and Vrijheidsfonds VZW vs Helena Vandersteen, Christiane Vandersteen, Liliana Vandersteen, Isabelle Vandersteen, Rita Dupont, Amoras II CVOH and WPG Uitgevers België is a preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice. The reference concerned what conditions must be met for a derivative work to be considered a parody. Parodies are allowed under the Information Society Directive, in those countries that have indicated to apply the parody exception. The European Court of Justice indicated that the definition of the copyright exceptions was consistent throughout the EU and that to qualify the work must "evoke an existing work, while being noticeably different from it, and secondly, to constitute an expression of humour or mockery". The humour or mockery does not need to be directed towards the work itself, but it can also be mockery of something/someone else. When considering a parody-case the court should strike a fair balance between the rights of the rights holders of the original work, as the maker of the parody.
Tom Jozef Irène Van Grieken is a Belgian politician and author who has served as leader of Vlaams Belang since October 2014.
Chris Janssens is a Flemish politician for Vlaams Belang, a member of the Flemish Parliament and the current chairman of the VB's faction in the Flemish Parliament. He is also the spokesman for the party in the Flemish region.
Guy August Marie-Louise D'haeseleer is a Belgian politician who has served as the Senate leader for Vlaams Belang since 2014 and is chairman of Forza Ninove, the local chapter of Vlaams Belang in the city of Ninove.
Dominiek Spinnewyn-Sneppe is a Belgian-Flemish politician who has served as an MP in the Chamber of Representatives for the Vlaams Belang party since May 2019.
Katleen Bury is a Belgian-Flemish politician and lawyer who has been a member of the Chamber of Representatives for the Vlaams Belang party since 2019.
Immanuel De Reuse is a Belgian-Flemish politician for Vlaams Belang and a member of the Flemish Parliament.
Johan Weyts was a Belgian Christian Democrat politician who sat in the Belgian Senate from 1987 to 1999.
Frieda Deschacht is a Belgian-Flemish politician and a member of the Flemish Parliament for Vlaams Belang since 2019.
Bert August Flor Herman Schoofs is a Belgian lawyer and former politician of the Vlaams Blok and its successor Vlaams Belang party.
Tanguy Veys is a Belgian retired politician formerly of the Vlaams Blok and then Vlaams Belang party.
Koen Henk Jan Lodewijk Bultinck is a Belgian politician of the N-VA party. He was formerly active in the Vlaams Belang and a member of the Chamber of Representatives.
Johan Lisette Joseph Demol is a former Belgian police commissioner and politician for the Vlaams Belang. He served as the commissioner of police in Schaarbeek, Brussels for a period until it became known he had been a member of the militant Front de la Jeunesse group.