‘I realised this must be freedom; it was quite a moment’, Stephen McGown says on his release
Stephen McGown was told by his abductors that he was better off as a hostage in the camps in Mali than being in prison‚ but he says he would have preferred jail."I couldn’t understand this [point of view] because in jail you can see your family‚ you can use a telephone … and you also know you are there for five years … I was in the dark. I did not know how my family was."Exercise and finding distractions‚ like watching the birds‚ helped him stay positive."Exercise was important. A lot of time‚ I exercised. [But] there was a time I could not stand up for five days. It was a big worry. There were times when I was very concerned about my health‚ so I exercised a lot. Exercise is good; it takes your mind off things."McGown described the circumstances under which he was held by al-Qaeda-linked militants, at a briefing at the offices of the Gift of the Givers in Johannesburg, this week. He had been held hostage by the Islamist militants in Mali since 2011. During his time as a hostage‚ he...
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