A Paris court has found the former CEO of Lafarge, Bruno Lafont, and eight other former employees guilty of financing terrorism in Syria. Judges ruled that the world's largest cement manufacturer funneled approximately €5.6 million to groups including the "Islamic State" and the Nusra Front between 2013 and 2015.

Presiding Judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez stated that "These payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with the Islamic State." The company made these payments to keep its Jalabiya plant operational in Syria. This occurred at a time when it was globally known that these groups were engaged in torture, enslavement, and mass killings in the territories they controlled.

As a result of the trial, Bruno Lafont has been sentenced to six years in prison, and the Lafarge company has been ordered to pay a fine of €1.125 million. This case marks the first time in France that an entire company has been tried for financing terrorism. The company had invested €680 million in Syria in 2010, just one year before the country descended into a civil war that would last over a decade.

Lafarge, a subsidiary of the Swiss building conglomerate Holcim, is a major player in the global construction industry. The company had previously pled guilty in a U.S. court to funding the "Islamic State" and the Nusra Front. This case highlights the extent to which large corporations may go to maintain operations, even by engaging with entities involved in severe human rights abuses and terrorism.

Source: www.dw.com