The Paris Court of Appeal examines Thursday March 24 the validity of the indictment for "
complicity in crimes against humanity
" of the French cement group Lafarge, suspected of having paid money in particular to the Islamic State group (EI ) to maintain the activity of its cement factory in Syria until 2014.
Read alsoLafarge in Syria: the indictment for "complicity in crimes against humanity" again examined
The hearing in the investigating chamber, chaired by Judge Eric Halphen, began shortly after ten o'clock, in the presence of a large number of lawyers.
As part of this judicial investigation opened in June 2017, Lafarge SA is suspected of having paid in 2013 and 2014, via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), nearly 13 million euros to terrorist groups including IS. as well as to intermediaries in order to maintain the activity of a cement factory in Syria while the country was sinking into the war.
The group had invested 680 million euros in the construction of this site, completed in 2010.
The group had obtained from the Paris Court of Appeal in November 2019 the cancellation of its indictment in 2018 for "
complicity in crimes against humanity
".
But in September 2021, the Court of Cassation, France's highest judicial court, overturned this decision of the Court of Appeal, as well as the maintenance of the group's indictment for "
endangering the lives of others
" .
She had referred these two questions to the investigating chamber, in a different composition.
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“Several Million Dollars”
In its requisitions of which AFP was aware, the public prosecutor's office requests the maintenance of the indictment for "
complicity in crimes against humanity
" of Lafarge: it considers that the company "
financed, via subsidiaries, the activities of the IS to the tune of several million dollars, with precise knowledge of the actions
".
The prosecution also requested the cancellation of the indictment of Lafarge for “
endangering the lives of others
”.
The decision will be under advisement.
The Lafarge group had estimated in September that the decision in cassation "
in no way presumed a possible guilt of Lafarge SA
".
“
We have taken immediate and firm measures to ensure that similar events cannot happen again
,” he assured, adding that Lafarge had “
no longer had any activity in Syria for more than six years
”.
The Court of Cassation had also confirmed the indictment of the cement manufacturer for "
financing of terrorism
".