The decision, delivered in Paris, concluded that the company paid approximately $6.5 million between 2013 and 2014 to armed groups controlling areas around its cement plant in northern Syria. According to presiding judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez, the payments directly enabled these organisations to consolidate control over key resources and fund violent activities across the Middle East and Europe.
The court held that the payments were made primarily to ensure the continued operation of Lafarge’s facility, effectively amounting to what the judge described as a “commercial partnership” with extremist groups.
Executives convicted and sentenced
The ruling also implicated several former executives. Ex-CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of financing terrorism. Former deputy managing director Christian Herrault received a five-year sentence.
Another former employee, Firas Tlass, who allegedly facilitated payments to the armed groups on the ground in Syria, was sentenced in absentia to seven years in jail.
During the trial, Herrault argued that the company’s decision to keep the plant operational was partly motivated by concern for local employees, suggesting that abandoning operations could have exposed them to greater danger.
Payments tied to operations in conflict zone
The factory, located in Jalabiya in northern Syria, had been acquired by Lafarge in 2008 for $680 million and became operational in 2010, just months before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
Prosecutors detailed how employees stationed in nearby areas had to navigate dangerous routes, including crossing the Euphrates River, to access the site. Payments reportedly included €800,000 for safe passage and €1.6 million for raw materials sourced from quarries controlled by extremist factions.
Among the groups that received funds was the Nusra Front, further compounding the severity of the charges.
Corporate penalties and broader implications
Lafarge, now part of Swiss-based Holcim, was fined more than €1 million. The company has yet to issue an official response to the ruling.
The case is significant as it represents the first time a corporation has been convicted in France for financing terrorism. It also follows a 2022 case in the United States, where Lafarge admitted to similar conduct and agreed to pay $777.8 million in penalties.
A separate investigation into potential complicity in crimes against humanity remains ongoing, indicating that further legal consequences may follow.
Context of the conflict
The Syrian conflict began in 2011 amid widespread protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Over time, the war created a fragmented security landscape in which multiple armed groups, including the Islamic State, seized territory and resources.
By 2014, IS had declared a so-called caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq, using control of infrastructure and natural resources to finance its operations—circumstances that prosecutors argued Lafarge knowingly navigated for commercial gain.
The ruling underscores growing global scrutiny on multinational corporations operating in conflict zones, particularly regarding ethical responsibility and the risks of engaging with non-state armed actors.