A picture shows the logo on a plant of French cement company Lafarge on April 7, 2014 in Paris. (AFP)
A French court on Monday ruled that cement conglomerate Lafarge was guilty of paying the ISIL terror group and other jihadists protection money to maintain its business in war-torn Syria.
The court found Lafarge — which has since been acquired by Swiss conglomerate Holcim — paid millions of dollars in 2013 and 2014, via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), to jihadist groups and intermediaries to keep its plant operating in northern Syria.
"This method of financing terrorist organizations, and primarily ISIL, was essential in enabling the terrorist organization to gain control of Syria's natural resources, allowing it to finance terrorist acts within the region and those planned abroad, particularly in Europe," said the presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez.
