A French court on Monday ruled that cement conglomerate Lafarge was guilty of paying the Islamic State (IS) group and other jihadists protection money to maintain its business in war-torn Syria.
The company's former CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison for financing "terrorism", which a judge ordered him to start serving immediately, while former deputy managing director Christian Herrault received a five-year sentence.
The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated "terrorist" organisations and agreed to pay a $778-million fine, in what was the first time a corporation had faced the charge.
The Paris court found Lafarge – which has since been acquired by Swiss conglomerate Holcim – paid nearly €5.6 millions ($6.5 million) in 2013 and 2014, via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), to jihadist groups and intermediaries to keep its plant operating in northern Syria.
"This method of financing terrorist organisations, and primarily IS, was essential in enabling the terrorist organisation to gain control of Syria's natural resources, allowing it to finance terrorist acts within the region and those planned abroad, particularly in Europe," said the presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez.
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