French Court Convicts Lafarge of Financing ISIS in Syria

SadaNews - A French court convicted the French cement company (Lafarge) on Monday of paying money to the Islamic State and "other jihadist groups" to ensure the continued operation of its factory in Syria.

The court found that the company, acquired by the Swiss group "Holcim", paid millions of dollars between 2013 and 2014 through its branch "Lafarge Cement Syria" to jihadist groups and intermediaries to protect the cement factory in Jalabiya in northern Syria.

The president of the court, Judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, stated, "This method of financing terrorist organizations, especially the Islamic State, was essential in enabling the terrorist organization to control natural resources in Syria, allowing it to fund terrorist operations within the region and those planned abroad, especially in Europe."

Lafarge announced in a statement that it "acknowledges the court's ruling regarding events that took place over 10 years ago, in blatant violation of the company’s codes of conduct", noting that it is currently "reviewing the rationale on which the court based its decision".

List of Accused

In addition to "Lafarge", the list of accused included the company’s former CEO Bruno Lafont and five former officials from the operational or security departments, as well as two Syrian intermediaries, one of whom was absent from the trial sessions. They are accused of "financing terrorism" and violating international sanctions.

Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison for funding "terrorism", and the court ordered the sentence to be executed immediately. Additionally, the former general manager Christian Haro was sentenced to five years in prison.

The court also imposed the maximum financial penalty of 1.125 million euros on the company and ordered it to pay a customs fine of 4.57 million euros along with four of its former officials for non-compliance with international financial sanctions, which is one of the charges listed in the case.

This ruling comes after Lafarge pleaded guilty in 2022 in the United States to providing material support to organizations deemed "terrorist" by Washington and agreed to pay a fine of 778 million dollars, an unprecedented charge for any company.

The Lure of Profit

Lafarge completed the construction of the Jalabiya plant, which cost 680 million dollars, in 2010, before the outbreak of the Syrian war the following year after the violent crackdown by the ousted President Bashar al-Assad's regime on anti-government protests at that time.

Members of the Islamic State took control of vast areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, where they announced the establishment of a "caliphate".

While multinational companies left Syria in 2012, Lafarge only evacuated its foreign employees but kept its Syrian workers until September 2014 when the Islamic State took control of the plant.

"Lafarge Cement Syria" was accused of paying money in 2013 and 2014 to intermediaries to obtain the raw materials necessary for the operation of the factory from the Islamic State and other groups, and to ensure the freedom of movement for the company’s trucks and employees.

During his closing statement in December last year, the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office stated that Lafarge was guilty of funding "terrorist" organizations "with one goal in mind: profit". The prosecutors asserted that the former president of the company "gave clear instructions" to keep the factory operational in a decision they described as "shocking".

During the trial, Christian Haro claimed that the decision to keep the factory open was made out of concern for local employees, adding, "We could have disclaimed responsibility and walked away, but what would have happened to the factory’s employees?".

According to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, the payments to the groups classified as "terrorist organizations" amounted to approximately 5.5 million dollars.

In 2017, an investigation was opened in France following several media reports and two legal complaints filed in 2016, one from the Ministry of Finance related to an alleged violation of an economic sanction, and the other from NGOs and 11 former Lafarge employees related to "financing terrorism".

In a case filed in the United States, the Justice Department stated that "Lafarge" sought assistance from the Islamic State to eliminate competitors by applying an effective "revenue-sharing agreement" with them.

Source: AFP