The Montreal businessman who became a cause célèbre as he suffered through 10 months of deplorable conditions in an Indian prison returned to Canadian soil on Friday afternoon.

Saul Itzhayek, 42, was met at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal by his family and supporters, as well as a mob of journalists.

He had an emotional reunion with his family in the airport's baggage area before emerging to talk to reporters.

Saying he was exhausted, he still took time to thank people who helped secure his release from prison, including reporters, politicians, and church activists.

Itzhayek said he was thrilled to be home with his family, and that he'll fight to clear his name in India.

He said he didn't do anything wrong, and he doesn't want to continue to have a record in India.

Even though the courts released him on Tuesday, his conviction for entering India on an expired visa still stands.

Itzhayek did not take any questions from reporters.

"I've been on the road for 80 hours. I'd really like to take a shower and get some rest," he said.

Itzhayek had been in Nepal on business when he was arrested in May 2007 and accused of crossing the border into India on an expired visa.

He was sentenced to three years in prison in October in spite of his claim that he was entrapped by Indian police at the border.

Itzhayek has said he sent his driver into India to pick up some money that was being wired to him. He said police stopped the driver at the border and seized documents that included Itzhayek's passport and visa.

Itzhayek has filed sworn statements that say Indian police offered him safe passage back into India to collect his documents, but instead arrested him for entering the country illegally.

He alleges he was asked to pay a bribe for his freedom.

"In the first three months of his incarceration, he lost 30 kilos," his sister, Sylvia Itzhayek, said earlier in the week.

"He suffered a prison riot, he [saw] this one murder. He's been contaminated by the water. He suffered food poisoning. He slept on the floor; he suffered rats and scorpions all around, sewage, he suffered a lot.

"He's aged considerably, he's really aged."

Concern about his safety arose earlier in March after he narrowly avoided injury in a pair of explosions that rocked the prison where he was being held.

He had reportedly not left his cell since the two bombs killed a local gangster. His family had feared he would be caught up in a prison gang war.

On Tuesday, Itzhayek's appeal on the charges was denied, but an Indian court released him because of the time he had already spent in jail.

On Wednesday, a Canadian consular official took him by car to Kathmandu in Nepal. From there, he flew to Montreal.
CBC