French investigating judges have ordered the cement group Lafarge to stand trial in criminal court on charges of financing terrorism, as it paid off jihadist groups to keep a plant in Syria in operation until 2014, when the Islamic State armed group took control of large parts of the country.
The company, along with eight individuals, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, are accused of having “organised, validated, facilitated or implemented a policy presuming to send financing to terrorist organisations established around the cement factory” in the Syrian town of Jalabiya, according to the referral consulted by AFP.
The company, which has since been acquired by Swiss conglomerate Holcim, is accused of having paid €5 million in 2013 and 2014, via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, to jihadist groups, including the Islamic State armed group, to keep the plant operating in the face of the war.
In return for the payments, local militias allowed free movement for the company’s trucks and employees.
The referral says the company could have closed the plant at any moment, especially after learning that its payments were going to militant groups, but it did not.
Other defendants include operational managers, security officials and Syrian middlemen, though charges were dropped against former director of security Jean-Claude Veillard, who had been under investigation since the end of 2017.
The human rights organisations Sherpa and European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, plaintiffs in this case said they “welcome this significant development after eight years of legal proceedings”, but cautioned that the trial should not take attention away from the fact that the company remains under investigation for alleged complicity with crimes against humanity.
In January a judge declined to indict the company for endangering the lives of its Syrian workers.
(with AFP)
