Lafarge can be charged with 'complicity in crimes against humanity': Top French court

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - France's highest court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by French cement producer Lafarge that it dismiss charges of "complicity in crimes against humanity" as part of an investigation into its operations in Syria.

The Supreme Court’s ruling upheld an earlier decision by a lower court.

However, the court dropped charges that the company endangered the lives of its staff in Syria, who filed a criminal complaint in November 2016 together with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), an independent, nonprofit non-governmental organization with the aim of enforcing human rights through legal means.

"Businesses that fuel or profit from armed conflicts can no longer claim that their activities are neutral,” Cannelle Lavite, co-director of the Business and Human Rights program at ECCHR, said in a statement following the court ruling.

"Companies which transfer millions of euros to armed groups that committed crimes against humanity must be held accountable," she added.

Lafarge opened a €680 million ($740 million) cement plant in the Jalabiyeh region of northern Syria in 2010.

From 2013 to 2014, the company, along with Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) S.A., headquartered in Damascus, are said to have paid the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and the Al-Nusrah Front terrorist groups around $5.9 million, conspiring to provide them with material support and resources in northern Syria​​​​.

In 2021, Anadolu obtained documents revealing that France's intelligence agencies were fully aware of the ties between the terror groups and Lafarge.

Ahead of a decision by a French court in September 2021 which paved the way for Lafarge to be indicted for "complicity in crimes against humanity" in Syria, Anadolu published the documents belonging to French intelligence.​​​​​​​