A court in Paris has found French cement company Lafarge guilty of financing terrorist groups after it paid millions of dollars to armed factions, including the Islamic State, during the Syrian civil war.
The court heard that between 2013 and 2014, the company transferred about $6.5 million to militant groups operating in northern Syria. The payments were made to ensure the safety of its workers, maintain access to raw materials, and keep its cement plant in Jalabiya operational.
Investigators revealed that some of the funds reached not only the Islamic State but also the Nusra Front, an extremist organisation linked to al-Qaeda. Both groups are internationally designated terrorist organisations.
Delivering the judgment, presiding judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez stated that the financial support enabled the groups to strengthen their activities and finance attacks across the Middle East and Europe.
The court also convicted eight former employees connected to the case. Former CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison, while former deputy managing director Christian Herrault received a five-year jail term. Another former staff member, Firas Tlass, was sentenced in absentia to seven years.
Lafarge, now part of Swiss building materials group Holcim, said it accepts the ruling, describing the incident as a legacy issue involving actions that breached its code of conduct more than a decade ago.
The company had acquired the Jalabiya cement plant in 2008 and began operations in 2010, shortly before the outbreak of the Syrian conflict. Payments to the armed groups reportedly continued until September 2014.
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