Sarah Khalifa among 12 sentenced to death in Egypt drug case
A Cairo court sentenced Sarah Khalifa and 11 others to death in a drug case involving 28 defendants. The ruling remains open to appeal.
Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants have been sentenced to death by hanging by the Cairo Criminal Court after being convicted in a case involving the manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs.
The court sentenced another nine defendants to life imprisonment and acquitted seven, bringing the total number of defendants in the case to 28. Khalifa, 39, denied the charges throughout the proceedings, and the verdict remains open to appeal.
Al-Ahram reported that the defendants formed an organised criminal group to obtain materials for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics.
Prosecutors describe coordinated drug operation
Prosecutors said the group imported raw materials from overseas to manufacture synthetic drugs, with members assigned different responsibilities covering procurement, production and distribution.
A residential property was allegedly used to store the materials and manufacture the drugs. Investigators seized more than 750 kilogrammes of synthetic narcotics and production materials, along with unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Khalifa was arrested in April 2025 during the investigation.
Presenter maintains her innocence
Khalifa is known for presenting Mission Impossible, a television programme covering security and crime. She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an events production company and has more than two million Instagram followers.
The programme aired on the private Al-Mehwar television channel.
During the proceedings, Khalifa maintained that she had never smoked a cigarette and had no need for money from drugs. Egyptian media reported that she wept in court and appealed for mercy, saying her parents had brought her up well and insisting that she had no reason to become involved in the trade.
Death sentence remains subject to appeal
Before delivering the death sentences, the court sought a religious opinion from Egypt’s Grand Mufti, as required by Egyptian law in capital cases. The opinion is advisory and does not bind the court.
Khalifa and the other convicted defendants retain the right to challenge the verdict before the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest court for criminal cases.
In separate proceedings that day, Al Jazeera reported a three-year sentence against Khalifa for assaulting and filming her driver.
Egypt retains the death penalty for certain serious offences, including drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder.
