Iranian-Canadian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall is back in Toronto after spending five years in an Iranian prison and months on death row.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be back home -- the real home,鈥� said Ghassemi-Shall, who appeared on 愛污传媒 Channel with his wife Antonella Mega. 鈥淚 felt that I was reborn.鈥�
While travelling to Iran in 2008 to visit his mother, Ghassemi-Shall was charged with espionage, but was finally released last month.
Ghassemi-Shall, who worked as a shoe salesman in Toronto, immigrated to Canada following Iran鈥檚 1979 revolution. He arrived back in Canada on Thursday.
He said he was arrested after asking Iranian security forces about his brother who had himself been arrested a week after Ghassemi-Shall entered Iran.
鈥淚t was all under a false pretense, I didn鈥檛 do anything,鈥� Ghassemi-Shall said. 鈥淭hey had some sort of project to complete and they did what they were supposed to do.鈥�
Ghassemi-Shall spent more than a year in solitary confinement and was sentenced to death in 2009.
鈥淎t the beginning, I was hoping that this investigation would end very quickly and they would let me go because I knew that I hadn鈥檛 done anything, but it didn鈥檛 turn out that way and I started to lose my hope,鈥� Ghassemi-Shall said.
While his wife said the ordeal felt like a nightmare, she maintained a positive outlook and remained hopeful he would be released.
鈥淓very day I would wake up thinking, 鈥楾his is not really happening,鈥欌�� Mega said. 鈥淏ut it was, and in my heart I always felt that this couldn鈥檛 have any other outcome (than) what we have here today, and I feel that we were just so absolutely fortunate to find support in all areas from friends who are writers, and friends who are from all walks of life who spoke for us and helped us.鈥�
Ghassemi-Shall was freed on Sept. 23 after being exonerated from espionage charges and serving a reduced sentenced, with many crediting his release on Hassan Rouhani coming to power as President of Iran in August.
鈥淥bviously Hassan Rouhani is an educated man, he spent many years outside Iran and in Western countries, and people trust him,鈥� Ghassemi-Shall said.
Rouhani travelled to the United Nations in September in an effort to build bridges with Western powers.
