Key takeaways:
- A Cairo criminal court sentenced Sarah Khalifa and 11 others to death, while nine co-defendants received life sentences and seven were acquitted.
- Authorities said the case involved more than 750kg of narcotics and raw materials used to manufacture drugs, as well as unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
- Khalifa denied the charges, saying she had never seen drugs until she was photographed with them at anti-narcotics authority offices, and her lawyer said she would appeal.
An Egyptian court has sentenced television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other people to death by hanging after convicting them in a major drug trafficking case involving more than 750kg of narcotics and drug-making materials.
The Cairo criminal court found the defendants guilty of forming an organised criminal gang that procured and imported raw materials used to manufacture narcotics with the intent to sell them, state-linked Al-Ahram reported. The court also sentenced nine co-defendants to life imprisonment and acquitted seven others. The case involved 28 defendants.
Khalifa, 39, is best known for hosting “Mission Impossible,” a security and crime programme that aired on the private Al-Mehwar TV channel. She has denied the charges, and her lawyer said she would appeal the death sentence.
Prosecutors said the group brought raw materials from abroad, stored them in residential properties and used one property to manufacture synthetic drugs. Authorities said members of the group divided responsibilities among procurement, manufacturing and distribution. Investigators also seized unlicensed firearms and ammunition alongside the narcotics, according to Egyptian state-linked media.
Al-Ahram reported that 20 witnesses gave statements to prosecutors and that electronic evidence included conversations and video clips.
During a court appearance last September, Khalifa denied any role in the case. According to the state-run Akhbar al-Youm newspaper, she told the judge she had never seen any drugs until she was photographed with them inside the anti-narcotics authority offices. Al Jazeera reported that she also told investigators she had “never smoked a cigarette in my life” and declared her innocence.
Egyptian media reported that Khalifa cried during the court session and asked the court for mercy. “Please listen to me, sir. My parents raised me well; they are people who pray, and I don’t need drug money,” she said, according to Al Jazeera.
The verdict was first announced last month but was confirmed after the court obtained a religious opinion from Egypt’s grand mufti, a legal requirement in death penalty cases. The opinion is non-binding. The sentence can be appealed before the Court of Cassation, and Al Jazeera reported that recent judicial reforms give defendants two avenues of appeal, beginning with a request for retrial before an appeals court.
Khalifa was arrested in April 2025 as part of the investigation, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet also reported that she ran a cosmetic surgery clinic and an event planning company and had more than two million Instagram followers.
In a separate case on Saturday, the same court sentenced Khalifa to three years in prison for assaulting and filming her driver, Al Jazeera reported.
Egypt imposes the death penalty for drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder. Amnesty International said in a 2025 report that Egypt issued 492 death sentences during the year and carried out 23 executions. The report said defendants were found guilty of drug trafficking and rape, “crimes that did not amount to ‘intentional killing’ to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law and standards.”
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