Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga indicted in his absence on charges of bankrolling ethnic militias that massacred some 800,000 people in 1994 was brought before a French court on Wednesday.

In his first appearance in public in more than two decades, the octogenarian was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, dressed in jeans and a blue jumper, and wearing a face mask.

He spoke to confirm his identity.

Kabuga was arrested on Saturday in a Paris suburb and the court is to decide whether to transfer him for trial to a UN war crimes tribunal,