- On 4 November, the criminal trial against industrial multinational Lafarge and four high-level executives began before the Paris Criminal Court. Lafarge operated a cement factory in northern Syria, which it kept running through the early part of the Syrian war beginning in 2011.
- The Court will examine allegations that the company paid close to €13 million to armed groups including Islamic State (IS) to maintain operations. It is also alleged that Lafarge purchased commodities such as oil and pozzolan from IS and paid taxes to IS for the circulation of its employees and cement.
- The case was first filed in November 2016, by NGOs Sherpa and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). Following investigations by French Prosecutors, the company and executives were charged in November 2019.
- Following several appeals, charges were confirmed by the highest French Court in January 2024, and the case was transferred to the Paris Criminal Court in October 2024.