Particle.news
Download on the App Store
16 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Paris Terror-Financing Trial of Lafarge Postponed to November 18 Over Referral Error

The case tests corporate liability for alleged payments to jihadist groups in Syria to keep a cement plant running.

Image
Une cimenterie Lafarge, à Jalabiya, au nord de la Syrie, le 30 janvier 2025.
La cimenterie Lafarge, dans le nord-est de la Syrie, en octobre 2025.
Image

Overview

  • The Paris criminal court found an irregularity in the referral order for former Syria unit head Bruno Pescheux and sent it back to the national anti-terrorism prosecutor for correction.
  • Hearings are now scheduled to resume on November 18 with a new end date of December 19, after the court joined other defense motions to be decided with the final judgment.
  • Lafarge SA and eight former executives and intermediaries face charges of financing a terrorist enterprise and, for some, violating international sanctions tied to a 2013 EU embargo.
  • Prosecutors say the company funneled several million euros in 2013–2014 to groups including ISIS and Jabhat al-Nosra to keep its Jalabiya plant operating, while the defense disputes knowledge and challenges reliance on a 2022 U.S. guilty plea that brought a $778 million penalty.
  • A total of 241 civil parties, including many former Syrian employees and NGOs such as Sherpa and ECCHR, have joined the case, citing kidnappings and threats, and one intermediary defendant will be tried in absentia under an international arrest warrant.