French judiciary demands that Lafarge Syria be fined 1 billion Euros and imprisoned 8 of its officials
The French anti-terrorism prosecutor on Tuesday requested in Paris to impose a fine of 1.125 billion Euros on the French cement company Lafarge, in addition to prison sentences of up to 8 years for eight former officials of the company, who are on trial on charges of financing terrorism in Syria.
Regarding the group’s former CEO, Bruno Lafon, prosecutors asked for him to be imprisoned for 6 years with immediate detention, fined 225,000 Euros and banned from taking up commercial or industrial jobs or running a company for 10 years.
The harshest sentence requested by the Public Prosecution is 8 years in prison for Syrian mediator Firas Tlass, who is being tried in absentia and is being prosecuted under an international arrest warrant.
The Public Prosecution requested the confiscation of assets belonging to Lafarge A.S., in its legal capacity, worth 30 million Euros.
The French Public Prosecution also requested the imposition of a solidarity customs fine on 4 of the defendants and on the company amounting to 4 billion and 570 million Euros, for not complying with international financial sanctions.
In this case, the French group is suspected of paying millions of Euros in 2013 and 2014 through its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria to groups designated as “terrorist,” including ISIS, to ensure that its cement plant in northern Syria continued to operate.
While other multinationals left Syria in 2012, Lafarge evacuated only its foreign employees at the time, and kept Syrians working until September 2014, when ISIS took control of the area where the factory is located.
