Lafarge 'complicity in crimes against humanity' charges to proceed: court

France's highest court has rejected a request from French cement maker Lafarge that it dismiss charges of complicity in crimes against humanity as part of an enquiry into how the group kept its factory running in Syria after war broke out in 2011.

The procedural ruling, which upheld an earlier decision by a lower court, is not a verdict on guilt. But it means a multi-year investigation into the company's criminal liability on the grounds of alleged, highly symbolic crimes against humanity charges can continue.

It is unclear when the investigation will be completed and whether prosecutors will decide to send the case to court for a ruling on the substance of the accusations.

The company's court action was successful in part in that the court dropped charges of endangering the life of its staff.

'Legacy issue'

Lafarge, in a statement, said the decision was a "legacy issue" that it was addressing "through the legal process in France". It did not provide further comment.

The company, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, has been the subject of an investigation into its operations in Syria since 2016, one of the most extensive corporate criminal proceedings in recent French legal history.

The cement maker has admitted, following its own internal investigation, that its Syrian subsidiary paid terrorist groups to help protect staff at the plant in a country shaken by years of civil war.

US prosecutors said Lafarge, through intermediaries, paid Daesh and al Nusra Front the equivalent of approximately $5.92 million between 2013 and 2014 to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints after civil war broke out in Syria.

But in a legal battle involving dozens of lawyers and thousands of pages of documents, Lafarge has rejected some of the charges French prosecutors have considered. The company said France was not the jurisdiction for the prosecution of charges of involvement in war crimes abroad, an argument the court rejected.

The company also denied it could be guilty of endangering the lives of its local staff by keeping employees in their jobs when the safety situation deteriorated.

The top court agreed with the company's argument that it could not be prosecuted for endangering the lives of staff on the basis of French labour law, as that legislation did not apply to local staff.

'Partial victory'

Anna Kiefer, a lawyer for French campaign group Sherpa, which had lodged a criminal complaint against Lafarge, said the court's decision was a "partial victory".

"The confirmation of the indictment for complicity in crimes against humanity is a key step towards Lafarge one day being tried for these acts," she said.

"However, the annulment of the indictment for endangering the lives of others is a major setback for the recognition of the risks that Lafarge posed to Syrian employees."

TRT World's documentary

In 2021, an investigation by TRT World exposed Lafarge's illegal activities in Syria and how the factory was a cover for the French secret services.

The documentary, titled The Factory: A Covert French Operation, exposes France's operation to support the Daesh terror organisation via French cement giant Lafarge.

It results from a 2-year investigation and analysis of more than half a million documents, revealing one of the darkest episodes of the Syrian civil war.

It details why Lafarge decided to stay in Syria and keep its factory operative throughout the war, how EU funds were diverted to Daesh and the PKK terror groups, with the knowledge and cover-up of the French intelligence agencies.

The investigation also focuses on the steps French politicians and intelligence agencies took to save Lafarge from legal proceedings and how the process of funding Daesh in Syria ended up financing the 2015 Paris attacks.