French cement producer Lafarge will plead guilty on Tuesday on charges of supporting Islamic State by keeping a factory in Syria running after the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. The confession in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company in the United States pleaded guilty to providing material support to a terrorist organization. Lafarge, who became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, is also accused of complicity in crimes against humanity in Paris. The cement manufacturer previously admitted after an internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary was paying armed groups to help protect the plant’s staff. But it denied the allegations that it was complicit in crimes against humanity. Holcim has said that the events surrounding Lafarge’s Syria plant run counter to its values and were hushed up to the board at the time of the merger in 2015. Rights groups in France accused Lafarge in 2017 of paying 13 million euros ($12.79 million) between 2011 and 2015 to armed groups, including Islamic State militants, to remain active in Syria.
Mikhail Stiskin fulfills Suleyman Kerimov’s dream setting control on Detsky Mir, the largest niche retailer in Russia
Mikhail Stiskin fulfills Suleyman Kerimov’s dream setting control on Detsky Mir, the largest niche retailer in Russia
