Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout emerged from a year in captivity in Somalia on Wednesday, recounting a nightmarish 15 months in which she was routinely tortured by her kidnappers, but held out hope of seeing her family and Canada again.

The freelance journalist from Sylvan Lake, Alta., and her Australian photojournalist colleague, Nigel Brennan, were in a hotel Wednesday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

They were in good health, according to the chairman of the Associated Somali Journalists.

Lindhout, 28, told CTV News she believed a ransom may have been paid for her release.

That suggestion was supported by a report from Agence France-Presse, in which someone identifying himself as one of Lindhout’s kidnappers said a ransom of one million dollars (665,000 euros) had been paid for the release of Lindhout and Brennan.

Lindhout told CTV she was beaten numerous times and forced to sit in a corner by herself during her captivity. The room she was kept in was windowless and without light, and she had very little food.

“There were times when I was beaten. I was tortured in extremely difficult situations,” she said. “Yeah, because the money wasn’t (coming) quickly enough for these men, and they seemed to think that if they beat me enough, when I was able to speak to my mother . . . I would be able to say the right things.”

Lindhout said the kidnappers did not understand that a $1M ransom was a large sum of money and apparently thought that everyone in Canada was rich.

She told CTV she was able to speak to her mother a few times in scripted phone calls where she had to plead for her family to pay the ransom.

“The conversations were really short, and usually scripted on my part. My mother wasn’t allowed to ask any questions,” she said.

Lindhout said thoughts of her family, her home and “running around Stanley Park” in Vancouver were what kept her going.

“There were some really dark moments but I think as human beings we have an ability to adapt in trying times,” she said. “It kept me going in that darkness.”

She said she believes her kidnapping was about money, not politics.

“From the information I gathered, I think it was criminal under the guise of being freedom fighters,” she said.

Asked if at any point she had felt sympathy for her kidnappers, Lindhout was clear.

“No. None. None whatsoever.”

She said her kidnappers may have all fled the country with the ransom money.

Associated Somali Journalists chairman Dahir Abdulle Alashow said the newly freed journalists would fly to Nairobi on Thursday morning.

Lindhout and Brennan were kidnapped in Mogadishu in August 2008, along with local journalist Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, who was released in January.

Alashow said Lindhout did not have a child while being held captive, a rumour that had been reported in the media.

“We can celebrate a good end,” he said. “That is enough for me.”

A spokesman for Reporters Without Borders in Canada said the organization is “very happy” to hear of the journalists’ release.

“It’s a happy, ideal ending after a long ordeal,” said group vice-president Dennis Trudeau. “Let’s hope they have time to recover.”

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