French cement company Lafarge stands before French Court of Cassation over suspected business dealings with terrorist groups in Syria

PARIS — On Tuesday, the French Court of Cassation, the highest judicial authority in France, is expected to hear six challenges against French cement company Lafarge about its activities in Syria until 2014.

According to media outlets in France, the Court will discuss whether extremely serious criminal descriptions are appropriate in this file.

The group and two former officials, former security director Jean-Claude Viard and former director of its branch in Syria Frédéric Jolibois, face prosecution.

At the end of 2019, the French judiciary dropped an accusation of complicity in crimes against humanity against Lafarge, which merged in 2015 with the Swiss-based Holcim Company, also accused of financing terrorist groups in Syria.

At the end of June 2017, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, non-governmental organization Sherpa, and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights submitted a complaint to the judiciary against the company.

It was suspected that the Lafarge group paid about 13 million euros to terrorist groups in 2013 and 2014, including to the Islamic State (ISIS), to ensure the continuation of the company’s work in Syria.

The group is also suspected of selling cement to ISIS and of paying intermediaries to obtain raw materials from terrorist groups.

Lafarge denies any responsibility for receiving these funds and denies accusations of being involved in crimes against humanity.