A Paris court has found Lafarge, now owned by Holcim, guilty of payments made to terrorist groups, including Islamic State, to maintain operations at a cement plant in northern Syria during the country’s civil war.
The French company and former executives were charged with paying several million euros between 2013 and 2014, through its Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria. The payments were made to armed jihadist groups to allow continued manufacturing at the plant.
Judges ruled that the world’s largest cement maker knowingly funded terrorist organizations to keep the facility running.
Lafarge was also fined over US$1.3 million as a result of the court’s decision.