"An 85-year-old Lithuanian has been found guilty of collaborating with the Nazis and persecuting Jews, but he was spared jail because of his age," the BBC reports.

Algimantas Dailide was convicted of persecuting and arresting two Poles and 12 Jews while he was a member of the Nazi-backed police in World War II. The judge in Vilnius did not give him a jail term, saying he was too old and "no longer a threat to society".

The judge's decision has angered the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center. Dr Efraim Zuroff -- the head of their operations in the Baltic States -- said it proved that Lithuania was incapable of punishing Nazi war criminals, and unwilling to face the complicity of its citizens in the mass murder of Jews in their country.

It is indeed an absurd ruling. Old age didn't spare Dailide's victims. Nor is prison simply about protecting society from possible threats. It's also about punishing criminals, in this case for unspeakable crimes.

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