French Court Rejects ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ Charge for Cement Maker in Syria

A Paris court of appeals has cleared the company Lafarge, since 2015 a subsidiary of the Swiss corporation LafargeHolcim, of charges of complicity in crimes against humanity over its operations in Jalabiya – between Raqqa and Aleppo in northern Syria. The court’s decision came in a hearing on Thursday morning. The company and eight of its former executives and employees, including ex-CEO Bruno Lafont, former security director Jean-Claude Veillard, and an ex-director of its Syrian subsidiary, Frédéric Jolibois, still face charges of financing terrorism, violating international sanctions and endangering others, based on the accusation that Lafarge and its local subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, paid nearly €13 million ($14 million) to jihadist groups, allegedly including the Islamic State group, to protect its employees and facilities and for oil and other raw materials in areas controlled by ISIS in 2013 and 2014.