A French court has found cement giant Lafarge guilty of financing terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, after determining the company paid at least $6.5 million to insurgents in Syria between 2013 and 2014.
Delivering judgment on Monday, presiding judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez sentenced former Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont to six years in prison.
Eight other employees were also convicted for aiding and abetting terrorist activities in northern Syria through payments made in multiple instalments.
The court heard that Lafarge made the payments to sustain operations at its cement plant during the height of Syria’s conflict, despite the growing influence of insurgent groups.
“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,” Ms Prévost-Desprez said.
The judge further stated that the “payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with IS.”
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According to the findings, the funds were also used to secure safe passage for workers who had accommodation in Manbij and had to cross the Euphrates River to access the facility.
Lafarge defended its actions by arguing that shutting down operations would have negatively affected its largely local workforce.
“We could have washed our hands of it and walked away, but what would have happened to the factory’s employees?” said former deputy managing director Christian Herrault.
Herrault was sentenced to five years in prison, while Firas Tlass, a former employee responsible for delivering funds to the militants, received a seven-year sentence in absentia.
The court also imposed a $1.3 million fine on Lafarge, granting prosecutors’ request for the maximum financial penalty.
Responding to the ruling, the company acknowledged the verdict while distancing its current operations from the actions in question.
“Lafarge SA acknowledges the court’s finding, which concerns a legacy matter involving conduct that occurred more than a decade ago and was in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct,” Reuters cited the company as saying.
The case echoes a similar legal battle in the United States in 2022, where Lafarge agreed to pay $777 million as part of a plea deal over illegal payments to terrorist groups operating in Syria.