A French court today officially began the trial of Pascal Simbikangwa, the intelligence chief during the genocidal regime in Rwanda, who faces charges related to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Pascal Simbikangwa, 54, was arrested in 2008 when he was living under an alias of "Safari" on France's Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. 

The trial is seen as historic since it’s the first of its kind in France 20 years after the 100-day killing spree in which several French political and military leaders are also accused of playing a part.

Simbikangwa, a paraplegic, is accused by the French prosecution of having supplied arms to the Interahamwe militia and ordered the massacre of the Tutsi in the former Gisenyi prefecture in the current Rubavu District.

He denies all of the charges.