A German court has thrown out a case against a former soldier over the Nazis' worst Second World War atrocity on French soil.
The 89-year-old former soldier - referred to as Werner C - was charged in January with the killing in 1944 of 25 people in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane and aiding and abetting the murder of several hundred people.
But the Cologne state court in the region where the ex-soldier lives rejected the case, citing a lack of evidence.
In its ruling, the court said: "In a trial, it could probably only be proved the suspect was in the area during the massacre in Oradour-sur-Glane as he has consistently maintained.
"This mere presence is not enough to prove accessory to murder without the proof of other circumstances."
In total, 642 people - including 254 women and 207 children - were massacred in the tiny village by SS troops in a crime so horrific that it left a lasting scar on France.
The accused, who was 19 when the atrocity was carried out, said he was in the village but never fired a shot and was not in any way involved in the murders.
He was part of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the Der Fuehrer regiment of the fanatical SS's "Das Reich" division.
Four days after the D-Day landings in Normandy, the company attacked Oradour-sur-Glane in reprisal for the French Resistance's kidnapping of a German soldier.
The troops herded the civilians into barns and into the church, blocked the doors and then set fire to the entire town. Those not killed in the blazes were shot as they tried to flee, though a handful did manage to escape.
Dortmund prosecutors had alleged the accused went to the village church where the women and children were being held prisoner and members of the unit used explosives, automatic weapons and hand grenades to kill many of them.
Prosecutor Andreas Brendel, who led the investigation, said he was surprised by the court's decision but that it was too early to say whether he would appeal.
The case was reopened 70 years after the event based on German prosecutors' review of earlier investigations.
The charges were part of a last-ditch attempt by the German justice system to prosecute crimes committed under the Nazis.
However, the age of the suspects and the difficulty of establishing criminal proof seven decades after the crimes has meant that few of the defendants have gone on to serve time in prison.
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