TORONTO -- A Canadian engineer jailed on spy charges in Iran for 69 days arrived home Tuesday and said his experience was a 'misunderstanding' but that he was not harmed or mistreated.
'I am not a spy,' said Philip Engs, 29, an employee of Paris-based Schlumberger Ltd., who arrived at Pearson International Airport on a flight from Frankfurt. 'It's simply a misunderstanding.'
Engs, who had been in Tehran for about a year, was freed Sunday after spending 69 days in prison for allegedly photographing secret military installations in Iran.
Engs was first taken into custody by the Iranians in October and questioned about certain photographs, then was released. He was arrested again Dec. 2 and sent to Evin Prison in Tehran after returning from vacation in Canada.
Engs was released Sunday in Tehran to Danish Ambassador Ib Andreasen, who acted for Canada because the Canadian Embassy there was closed in 1979.
Iranian officials in Canada said they released Engs as a gesture of goodwill, to promote good relations between Canada and Iran.
Engs said he did not know why the photographs in question led to his arrest. 'I cannot say exactly, but they're pictures from Brazil, New York, Iran and Abu Dhabi,' he said.
He would not elaborate except to say he had no pictures of any military installations.
Engs said he believed he convinced his sole interrogator that he was not a spy in early January but for unknown reasons it took another month to win freedom.
Engs, accompanied by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers at the airport, said he was not harmed or mistreated while in prison.
The engineer, who was welcomed by his parents and brothers before meeting a throng of reporters, described conditions in his one-man cell in the prison interrogation center as comfortable. 'I had sunlight,' he said. 'I could eat all I wanted. The meals were boring but adequate.'
He said he spent much of his time in jail reading and solving physics and mathematics problems with a pen and paper provided by his captors.
Engs, of St. Catharines, Ontario, said he planned to take a vacation, possibly in Brazil, and had no plans to return to Iran.
His mother, Sylvia, said Engs looked thinner, but added, 'He's home now and that's the main thing.'
