Margaret Warner recalls how Mohamed Fahmy helped NewsHour crew escape an attack

In 2011, PBS NewsHour chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner and a television crew narrowly escaped the rush of an angry mob outside of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. It was the swift actions of journalist Mohamed Fahmy that safely led the crew out of harm’s way.

Today Fahmy, who is a Canadian-Egyptian national, and two other journalists from the news agency Al-Jazeera English were sentenced each to seven years in prison by an Egyptian court. Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, who was given an extra three years for possessing a bullet, were originally detained along with Fahmy in December when they were accused of assisting the Muslim Brotherhood.

The three contend they were prosecuted for doing their jobs as journalists.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that the sentencing is chilling and that he is voicing his concern to Egypt’s foreign minister.

In this video from Al-Jazeera English, Warner describes working with Fahmy in Egypt and coming face-to-face with the violent mob. “He absolutely saved our lives,” she said.