Lafarge trial continues with defense arguments

PARIS

The trial of French cement company Lafarge, charged with “financing a terrorist organization," continued Wednesday, with defense lawyers arguing that their clients are “not guilty.”

The case, in which Lafarge, as a legal entity, and eight individuals are accused of “financing a terrorist organization” in connection with activities in Syria between 2013 and 2014, is ongoing at the Paris Criminal Court.

Emmanuel Rosenfeld, lawyer for Norwegian defendant Jacob Waerness, a former Lafarge security employee, argued that there was no link between his client’s inspecting checkpoints controlled by terror groups and payment arrangements made by the company to those groups.

Rosenfeld noted that his client never advised the financing of terrorists.

Christophe Ingrain, one of Lafarge’s lawyers, said he did not agree with the view that the company failed to take the accusations seriously.

He stressed that after 2016 reports in the French media alleging that Lafarge had financed terror groups in Syria, the company requested an investigation by a specialized firm.

Ingrain added that there was no suspicion that any of the defendants supported terror organizations on ideological grounds.

Another Lafarge lawyer, Denis Chemla, pointed out that their Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), is not on trial, arguing that LCS was the primary entity responsible for payments made to the terror groups.

Chemla said the parent company Lafarge, did not directly finance terror organizations, pointing to an "indirect financing.”

Joachim Bokobsa, lawyer for Syrian defendant Amro Talep, who is accused of acting as an intermediary among raw material suppliers linked to armed groups during Syria’s civil war, said his client was not in contact with terror organizations in the region, contrary to what he previously claimed to Lafarge employees, and that he had lied at the time.

Addressing the judge, Bokobsa said, “I will ask you to believe this liar (Talep),” adding that his client was a victim of the civil war in the region.

- Anadolu published evidence proving Lafarge financed ISIS terror group

On Sept. 7, 2021, Anadolu drew international attention by publishing documents proving that Lafarge financed the ISIS (Daesh) terror group with the knowledge of French intelligence.

As part of an investigation launched in June 2017, several senior executives, including Lafarge’s former CEO Bruno Lafont, were charged with financing terrorism.

On Oct. 16, 2024, three investigating judges decided that the Lafarge group and four of its former executives would stand trial on charges of financing a terror group and violating the EU embargo that bans all financial and commercial relations with terror groups, including ISIS.