The trial of French company Lafarge on charges of financing terrorism
The trial of French company Lafarge and eight of its former executives began in Paris on Tuesday, on charges of financing extremist groups, including the Islamic State in Syria, until 2014, to ensure the continued operation of its cement plant there.
After the session opened, the presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Deprez, began calling the defendants to the bench one by one to remind them of the crimes attributed to them.
The company and the eight defendants are appearing before the criminal court until December 16, on charges of financing terrorist organizations.
Several of them are also being tried for failing to respect international financial sanctions.
In addition to Lafarge, which was acquired by the Swiss Holcim group in 2015, the company’s former CEO Bruno Lafont, five former executives in the operational or security departments, and two Syrian intermediaries, one of whom is wanted under an international arrest warrant, are appearing before the court.
The French group is suspected of having paid five million euros in 2013 and 2014, through its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, to groups designated as terrorist, including the Islamic State and the al Nusra Front, which was linked to al Qaeda.
It also allegedly paid intermediaries to protect its cement plant in northern Syria, during the years of conflict that began in 2011.
The company invested 680 million Euros in the factory, which was built in 2010.
While other multinational companies left Syria in 2012, Lafarge evacuated only its foreign employees at the time, keeping Syrians working until September 2014 when the Islamic State took control of the area where the factory is located.
During this phase of the Syrian conflict, the company employed intermediaries to secure the raw materials needed to operate the factory, from areas that were under the control of the Islamic State and other extremist groups, and also to secure workers in the factory and products.
The investigation into this case was opened in 2017 following press reports and two complaints in 2016, one from the Ministry of Economy for violating the financial embargo on Syria, and the other from associations and 11 former employees of the company’s branch in Syria, for financing terrorism.
On the other hand, the new group that emerged from Holcim’s acquisition of Lafarge in 2015 launched an internal investigation and has always been keen to deny any connection to the events that preceded the merger.
Two years later, an investigation commissioned by the American law firm Baker McKenzie and the French firm Darrois concluded that there had been violations of Lafarge’s business conduct rules.
In October 2022, Lafarge pleaded guilty in the United States to paying approximately six million dollars to the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, and agreed to pay a fine of 778 million dollars.
In France, the company faces a fine of up to €1.125 billion if found guilty of financing terrorism.
If found guilty of violating financial sanctions against Syria, the fine would be significantly higher.
According to Bruno Lafont’s defense lawyer, his client was unaware of payments to extremist groups and believes the company’s guilty plea is a flagrant violation of the presumption of innocence and puts former company officials at risk.
Lafon says he is waiting to finally be able to defend his honor and understand what happened, and that this trial could shed light on several obscure aspects of this case, including the role of French intelligence.
However, investigating judges believe that the knowledge of the French intelligence services regarding what was happening at Lafarge doesn’t at all imply the French state’s approval of funding organizations it considers terrorist.
Another aspect of this case is still under investigation, as the group also faces accusations of complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq.
