On April 13, 2026, a Paris Court delivered a landmark verdict finding French cement giant Lafarge guilty of financing terrorism by channelling funds to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS/IS) and other armed groups, including Syria’s then Al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, during the Syrian civil war between 2013 and 2014. The ruling established that Lafarge, now part of the Swiss conglomerate Holcim through its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), paid a total of approximately 5.59 million Euros to armed factions, including ISIL and the al-Nusra Front, in order to maintain operations at its Jalabiya cement plant in northern Syria. The court imposed a fine of 1.12 million Euros on the company, ordered the confiscation of 30 million Euros worth of assets, and levied an additional penalty for breaching international sanctions. The judgment remains subject to appeal.
Eight former Lafarge employees were convicted of financing terrorism. Former CEO Bruno Lafont received a six-year prison sentence, which the court ordered him to begin serving immediately. Former Deputy Managing Director Christian Herrault was sentenced to five years in prison. Plant directors of Lafarge’s Syrian plant, Bruno Pescheux and Frédéric Jolibois, received five-year and three-year sentences, respectively, the latter partially suspended. Syrian intermediary Firas Tlass, identified as a key facilitator, was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison and is subject to an arrest warrant. Security managers Jacob Waerness (Norwegian) and Ahmad Jaloudi (Jordanian) received prison terms of 18 months and two years, respectively, along with 20,000 Euro fines. Canadian consultant Amro Taleb was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison and is also under an arrest warrant.
The Presiding Judge of the case, Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, observed,
This method of financing terrorist organisations, and primarily IS, was essential in enabling the terrorist organisation to gain control of Syria’s natural resources, allowing it to finance terrorist acts within the region and those planned abroad, particularly in Europe… It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organisation was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations.
Lafarge’s Jalabiya plant, located in northern Syria, acquired in 2008 for 680 million United States dollars (USD), began operating in 2010, months before the beginning of the Syrian uprising in early 2011. While other Multinational Companies (MNCs) left Syria in 2012, Lafarge evacuated only its expatriate employees and left its Syrian staff in place until September 2014, when IS seized control of the factory. The court found that over 800,000 Euros were paid to ensure safe passage, while 1.6 million Euros were used to procure raw materials from IS-controlled quarries.
The court was particularly critical of Bruno Lafont’s defence, which rested on his desire to ensure a form of protection against potential criminal liability. Evidence, including internal communications and minutes from security committee meetings, demonstrated that senior management was aware of the payments. The court highlighted an August 27, 2014, executive committee meeting, during which an agreement with IS was discussed, with Lafont reportedly emphasising the need to ensure actions were “risk-free.” Herrault was found to have played a direct role in approving this arrangement.
This case represents the first time a company has been tried in France for financing terrorism, but the inquiry against Lafarge has been running since 2017. The ruling builds on a broader legal history. In 2022, a French court confirmed Lafarge’s conviction on charges related to crimes against humanity, although the company had earlier succeeded in overturning such charges in 2019 before an appeals court reinstated them. A second case on complicity in crimes against humanity remains ongoing in France. In a separate case in the United States, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid 6 million USD to ISIL and the al-Nusra Front to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints. The company has now paid 778 million USD in forfeiture and fines as part of a plea agreement.
Human rights organizations, including Sherpa and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, described the verdict as a major step toward corporate accountability, though former Syrian employees, who testified about working under conditions of extreme danger, including bombings, kidnappings, and sniper fire, are still awaiting compensation. The French National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office had said in closing statements that Lafarge was guilty of financing “terrorist” organisations with “a single aim: profit”, underscoring the broader implications of the case for international business conduct in conflict-ridden zones.
The Lafarge case extends beyond the legal aspects of the case itself, to raise fundamental questions about the moral accountability of multinational corporations operating in regions of conflict. While the court established clear violations of law, the case underscores how profit-driven decisions can lead firms to engage, directly or indirectly, with violent non-state actors, leading to human suffering and instability. It highlights the urgent need for stronger corporate governance to ensure that business operations do not come at the cost of human rights and security.
