A French court on Wednesday turned down Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga's request to be released on bail pending a decision on where he will be tried after a quarter century on the run.
Described as Africa's most wanted man, Kabuga stands accused of financing the 1994 genocide and was arrested at his home outside Paris on May 16.
He had been living in France under the alias Antoine Tounga.
The court Wednesday turned down his freedom bid after prosecutors highlighted a high risk of the octogenarian fleeing again.
"I am asking to be freed because I am very ill," Kabuga, who officials say is 84 but proclaims to be 87, told the court from a wheelchair.
"He is incapable of independently executing any action required for daily life," added Kabuga's lawyer Laurent Bayon, pleading with the court to show "humanity".
Kabuga - once one of Rwanda's richest men - is accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres, and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines which, in its broadcasts, incited people to murder.
He is alleged to have used his wealth and influence to funnel money to militia groups as chairman of the Fonds de Defense Nationale (FDN) fund.
About 800,000 people - Tutsis but also moderate Hutus - were slaughtered over 100 days of ethnic violence committed by Hutu extremists in 1994.