French prosecutors pursue legal action against Lafarge over ISIS funds
2 Min Read
Cement manufacturer Lafarge has been convicted in 2022 of bribing a foreign terrorist organization, admitting to making payments to terrorist groups to maintain its operations in Syria.
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A site of cement make Lafarge is pictured in Paris, on November 14, 2017 (AP)
French prosecutors have recommended the trial of cement company Lafarge, part of the Swiss Holcim group, on charges of financing terrorist groups, including ISIS, during its previous operations in Syria.
Lafarge admitted to paying approximately 13 million euros to intermediaries to maintain its Syrian cement factory operations in 2013 and 2014. France's anti-terror prosecution unit (PNAT) is pursuing legal action against the company and nine former managers, according to a source cited by AFP.
Prosecutors added that the company “either intended the funds to be used entirely, or in part, towards the objective of committing terrorist acts, or was aware that this was how they would be used.”
In a recent development, France's highest appeals court ruled that Lafarge and former managers could face charges of complicity in crimes against humanity for the payoffs. Ongoing investigations are being conducted by prosecutors to examine these allegations.
A flashback
The company has been reported in 2021 to have funded ISIS with 13 million euros.
At the time, Anadolu Agency revealed that Lafarge not only briefed French intelligence about its support and financing of ISIS and other terrorist organizations, but it also provided the French government with news and information about northern Syria. The French government, with said information, enabled coordination with ISIS.
A discussion on the relationship between Lafarge and ISIS was carried out in 2018 - an intelligence officer codenamed AM 02 appeared in court and gave a statement. According to the court transcript, the intelligence officer admitted that Lafarge was his source of information in Syria and that the French secret services took advantage of the cement factory in Syria. He also admitted that Lafarge provided cement to armed groups in Syria between 2012 and 2014, including ISIS and then-al-Nusra Front.
However, despite all this, the French intelligence did not warn the company that this was a criminal act.
Over 30 meetings were carried out between Lafarge and the French domestic, foreign, and military intelligence services between 2013 and 2014 alone.
Read more: Families of US occupation forces sue Lafarge over funding ISIS
