By Juliette Jabkhiro
A Paris court on Monday found cement maker Holcim’s Lafarge unit guilty of charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions to keep a plant operating in northern Syria during the country’s civil war.
Eight former Lafarge employees, including executives, were also found guilty of financing terrorism.
Judges determined that Lafarge, in total, paid €5.59m (R108.5m) to jihadist groups, including Islamic State (IS) and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, both designated as terrorists by the EU, between 2013 and September 2014.
The presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez, said the payments made by Lafarge helped strengthen jihadist groups that carried out deadly attacks in Syria and beyond.
“It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organisation was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations,” Prevost-Desprez said.
“These payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with the Islamic State,” she added.
There was no immediate reaction from Lafarge or Holcim.
The case was the first time a company was tried in France for financing terrorism.
The Jalabiya plant, in northern Syria, was bought by Lafarge in 2008 for $680m (R11.25bn) and began operations in 2010, months before the beginning of the Syrian uprising in early 2011. Prosecutors told the court the payments were made between 2013 and September 2014.
They said employees were housed in the nearby town of Manbij and needed to cross the Euphrates River to access the plant. Among the payments, the court found more than €800,000 (R15.5m) was paid to secure safe passage.
It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organisation was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations.
— Judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez
Another €1.6m (R30.9m) was used to purchase source materials from quarries that were under IS control, the court said.
Lafarge became part of Switzerland-listed Holcim in 2015.
Prosecutors sought that Lafarge pay a €1.13m (R21.8m) fine and have assets worth €30m (R580.9m) confiscated, the maximum penalty available for a company. The court has not yet handed down its sentence against the company.
In a separate case in the US, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid $6m (R99.3m) to IS and the Nusra Front to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints after civil conflict broke out in Syria.
The group paid $778m (R12.88bn) in forfeiture and fines as part of its US plea agreement.
Reuters
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