France held to account. Too good to be true. The Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais ("SNCF") slips the hook.

See here for background. See here for remarks on the original verdict.

FAMILIES OF NAZI VICTIMS HIT SNCF WITH 1,200 CLAIMS

PARIS October 13, 2006 (AFP) - A collective grouping some 200 families whose relatives were deported by France's pro-Nazi Vichy regime during World War II using SNCF wagons announced in August they would be launching the lawsuit seeking unspecified millions of euros (dollars) in damages.

Notice the clever AFP headline. Of course, before the victims fell afoul of the Nazis, they were rounded up and deported by France's national heroes (and here) and the SNCF.

SENTENCED [SIC] OVERTURNED IN FRENCH RAILWAYS TRIAL

BORDEAUX March 27, 2007 (AFP) - A French appeals court on Tuesday overturned a conviction handed down on the state rail company SNCF for its role in the deportation of two Jewish men during World War II.

... Administrative courts in France judge suits brought against the state. But the appeals court said Tuesday that SNCF is a legal entity in its own right, and therefore subject to the normal justice system.

... SNCF's conviction last June by an administrative court in Toulouse was seen as a landmark ruling and triggered some 1,800 similar requests for compensation.

... Previous attempts to condemn the SNCF in criminal and civil courts having failed, the case rested on claims that the French state authorities, the police and the SNCF neglected their duty to provide services to citizens.

Claims, we might add, that rest on the facts.

PFFT (What is this?): Too good to be true 4¾ | Technically not guilty ½ |Rayonnement français 0 (there is no lower rating)