A Swedish doctor who had been imprisoned in his native Ethiopia on charges of corruption and terrorism has returned to Sweden.

Fikru Maru says "I didn't believe in it until I actually sat in the plane and it took off," according to the Expressen daily after being welcomed by family and friends at Stockholm's Arlanda airport Friday.

Fikru was released Wednesday. He was arrested in 2013 after a years-long dispute over equipment for his cardiology clinic in Addis Ababa. The terrorism charge came years later when he and others were accused of starting a deadly fire in the prison where they were held.

In January, Ethiopia's former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn promised to free members of political parties and others after more than a year of anti-government protests.