Paris (AFP)
The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday overturned the indictment for "complicity in crimes against humanity" Lafarge, accused of funding terrorist groups in Syria, to maintain the activity of one of its factories, have we learned from lawyers and judicial source.
On the other hand, the Appeals Chamber of the Court of Appeal upheld the indictments of the cement manufacturer for "financing of terrorism", "violation of an embargo" and "endangering life" of former employees of his factory in Jalabiya.
"The investigating chamber has made the same observation as us, namely that there is no evidence justifying the indictment of Lafarge SA for this crime," welcomed the lawyers of the cement group, Christophe Ingrain and Rémi Lorrain.
"The court recognizes that Lafarge has never participated in a crime against humanity" and "corrected a totally unfounded decision" of the investigating judges of the Paris Court's financial and antiterrorist divisions. they added.
The indictment for "complicity in crimes against humanity" of the French group, which merged in 2015 with the Swiss Holcim, had aroused strong reactions in the economic world. According to the NGO Sherpa, this was a world first for a company.
Asked by AFP, Me Marie Dosé, the lawyer of Sherpa, who had lodged a complaint in 2017 against the French cement maker, recalled that the company remained indicted for financing terrorism, "what remains" there too " a first in the judicial world ".
The NGO with other associations were removed from the case by the same Paris Court of Appeal, which annulled at the end of October their constitutions civil party.
"It is a judicial mistrust assumed towards NGOs and civil society, or without them this file would not exist," said Mr. Dosé.
In addition to Lafarge, three leaders of the group challenged their indictment: former CEO Bruno Lafont, the former director of security company Jean-Claude Veillard and one of the former directors of the Syrian subsidiary, Frederic Jolibois.
According to the lawyers, the Court of Appeal reduced the charges against Jean-Claude Veillard, but maintained the other proceedings.
As part of the judicial investigation opened in 2017 after complaints from several associations and the Ministry of the Economy, eight executives of Lafarge in total were indicted, for "financing a terrorist company" and / or "bet in danger".
© 2019 AFP