“colleagues were kidnapped” by jihadists, testifies a former Syrian employee

Hicham worked at the Lafarge factory in Jalabiya, an area controlled by Daesh. Every morning, he had to Skype with his French bosses for a security meeting. Refugee in Germany today, he will be on the civil parties’ bench with his former colleagues to obtain justice.

The trial of cement manufacturer Lafarge for financing terrorism opens Tuesday, November 4 in Paris. The group and eight former officials are accused of having paid jihadists, including the Islamic State group, in Syria until 2014 in order to maintain the activity of a cement factory there. In the midst of the civil war, this factory located in Jalabiya, in northern Syria, and its employees were exposed to racketeering and abuses by jihadists.

Nearly 180 former Syrian employees have filed a civil suit. France Inter was able to meet one of them, Hicham, who took refuge in Germany. Hicham was recruited as an IT specialist in 2012. For him, it was a chance to work for a multinational. But the war is getting closer to Jalabiya. “There were new checkpoints every day. After that, colleagues were kidnapped, others arrested”he says. The employees have no choice but to stay. They have to feed their families, he said. And they are stuck between the territory in the hands of Bashar al-Assad and that of the jihadists.

Hicham quickly suspected Lafarge of having made a pact with armed groups, such as the Islamic State. “They were delivering cement to towns where Daesh was building walls and facilities and then receiving oil from areas controlled by Daesh,” he describes. The expatriates have left, but every morning, Hicham is responsible for connecting with his French bosses for a security meeting, on Skype, with “the CEO, the director of security”he explains. Executives that he will see today in the dock.

In July 2014, Daesh bombings were very close to the factory and Hicham fled on his own. Today he has taken refuge in Germany. During the trial, he will telework in the morning, before going to the Paris court where he hopes to obtain justice.