“A few days ago I was alone and isolated in the Sahara. Today I am here together with my family. I am home,” he says in a video message sent to the TT news agency.
Gustafsson, who returned home to Sweden on Tuesday after more than five years in captivity, says he would like to thank everyone who helped secure his release.
Johan Gustafsson with his parents Göran and Mari-Anne. Photo: Simon Stanford/via TT
“I want to thank my family, I want to thank my family, I want to thank my family and everyone who has thought of me. I want to thank Sweden as a country for what they have done,” he says.
Sitting in the grass next to a lake and surrounded by his family in the Swedish summer sunshine, it is a setting very different from his years in captivity in Mali. He is visibly moved in the clip and his voice is unsteady at times, but he is smiling and relieved laughs can be heard from his family.
“I feel fine. I feel better than fine,” he says. “I’ll keep my beard until my siblings’ children get to take care of it,” he laughs, making a cutting scissors movement with his hand.
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