Egypt upholds death sentence for well-known TV host

An Egyptian court has upheld a death sentence against 39-year-old television presenter Sara Khalifa and 11 other people found guilty of belonging to a criminal network involved in drug manufacturing and trafficking, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reports.

Khalifa is best known in Egypt as the host of "Mission Impossible," a program focused on crime. Investigators say the group imported chemical ingredients needed to manufacture drugs with the intention of selling the finished product. Illegal firearms and ammunition were also found in the defendants' possession.

Large quantities of drugs seized

During the trial, it emerged that authorities had seized more than 750 kilograms of narcotics, along with stockpiles of imported raw materials used to produce them, pointing to a large-scale criminal operation.

Khalifa denies the charges against her. Her lawyer has stated that the death sentence will be appealed to a higher court.

Mandatory religious review

The death sentence was first handed down in August, but under Egyptian legal procedure, capital cases require a religious opinion from the country's Grand Mufti before the verdict can be finally confirmed, according to BBC reporting.

According to Amnesty International's latest annual report, Egypt issued 492 death sentences last year, of which 23 were actually carried out.