Egypt sentences TV presenter to death over drug trafficking charges

CAIRO – Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted in a major drugs case involving the alleged manufacture and trafficking of synthetic narcotics, state-owned media reported.

Khalifa, 39, was among 12 defendants handed death sentences by a Cairo Criminal Court after prosecutors accused them of forming an organised criminal gang that imported raw materials used to manufacture drugs for distribution.

The defendants were also convicted of possessing and carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition, according to Al-Ahram.

Nine other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, while seven were acquitted.

The death sentences were confirmed after the court obtained the opinion of Egypt’s Grand Mufti, a procedure required under Egyptian law in capital cases. The religious opinion is not binding on the court.

The verdict remains subject to appeal, and Khalifa’s lawyer said she would challenge her sentence.

Khalifa was arrested in April 2025 as part of the investigation. She is best known for presenting “Mission Impossible”, a programme on crime and security that aired on the private Al-Mehwar television channel.

She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an events and production company, and has more than two million followers on Instagram.

Khalifa has denied the charges and maintained her innocence throughout the case.

According to state-run Akhbar Al-Youm, Khalifa told the court during an earlier hearing that she had never seen drugs before being photographed with them inside the offices of Egypt’s anti-narcotics authority.

“I have never smoked a cigarette in my life,” she said, according to footage and Egyptian media reports.

She also appealed to the court for mercy during Saturday’s hearing.

Prosecutors said the defendants were involved in importing materials from abroad for the production of synthetic drugs, with different members of the alleged network assigned to procurement, manufacturing and distribution.

Authorities seized more than 750 kilograms of synthetic narcotics and raw materials, according to Al-Ahram. Investigators also found two residential apartments that prosecutors said had been used as laboratories for manufacturing the drugs.

Unlicensed firearms and ammunition were also seized, the newspaper reported.

The prosecution’s case included statements from 20 witnesses, as well as electronic evidence including conversations, photographs and video recordings.

The court also handed Khalifa and other defendants prison terms in a separate case involving the kidnapping and assault of a young man. The sentence reported for that case was five years in one account, while Egyptian media reports cited a three-year sentence against Khalifa in a separate case involving the assault and filming of her driver.

Egypt allows the death penalty for a range of offences, including drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder, as well as certain rape offences.

The case comes as Egypt continues to make extensive use of capital punishment. Amnesty International said Egypt issued 492 death sentences in 2025, with 23 executions carried out during the year.

The organisation has criticised the use of the death penalty in cases involving offences other than intentional killing, saying international law and standards restrict its use to the “most serious crimes.”