Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan businessman accused of encouraging and bankrolling the 1994 genocide, died Saturday while hospitalized in The Hague, Netherlands, according to the U.N. International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. He was 91.

Kabuga was charged with genocide, incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as persecution, extermination and murder in connection with the mass killing of Rwanda's Tutsi minority during the 100-day massacre that left 800,000 dead. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His trial began in 2022, nearly three decades after the genocide occurred. However, in 2023, judges declared him unfit to continue standing trial due to dementia and established procedures to continue hearing evidence without the possibility of conviction. He remained in detention pending potential provisional release to a willing state.

An arrest warrant for Kabuga was issued in 2013 with a $5 million bounty announced. He was arrested in France in 2020 after years on the run. His lawyer had indicated he would not return to Rwanda, which had offered to accept him, citing fears of mistreatment.

The U.N. court said the medical officer of the detention unit was immediately notified of Kabuga's death, and an investigation has been ordered to establish the circumstances. If convicted, he would have faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The 1994 genocide was triggered on April 6 when a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down in Kigali, killing the Hutu leader. Kabuga's daughter was married to Habyarimana's son, highlighting his close connections to the political leadership at the time.