France/Syria: Former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont and former deputy managing director Christian Herrault, who have been imprisoned in Paris since mid-April 2026, due to charges of financing terrorism in Syria, will be released from prison today, 27 May 2026, under ‘judicial supervision.’ Both of the men requested appeal, which is reportedly expected in a few months, according to local press. They will have spent six weeks in prison.
On 13 April 2026, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Lafont to six years and Herrault to five, with immediate detention orders issued. On 19 May 2026, Lafont and Herrault requested their release pending a new trial.
The appeals court ruled that pre-trial detention was ‘not the essential means’ of ensuring the two men's appearance in court, and took into account the ‘shock of imprisonment’ they had reportedly suffered. As part of their judicial supervision, the court prohibited them from leaving French territory and set bail of €100,000 for Bruno Lafont and €90,000 for Christian Herrault, to be paid by 2 July 2026. The court did not forbid them from contacting each other, as requested by the public prosecutor's office, even though the two men were incarcerated in the same cell at La Santé prison. They should be released from prison by the end of 27 May 2026. Bruno Lafont's lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, told local press that she was ‘relieved’ and ‘especially reassured when magistrates, as is the case today, apply the law.’
Bruno Lafont and Christian Herrault are among the nine defendants found guilty by the criminal court of having paid, via the Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, nearly €5.6m to armed jihadist groups in 2013 and 2014 in order to maintain the activity of a cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria. As a legal entity, Lafarge was fined the maximum amount of €1.1m, and ordered to pay jointly with four of its former executives a customs fine of €4.57m for violating international financial sanctions. All have appealed their convictions and will be retried in the coming months.