Egyptian TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death in drug trafficking case
Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 others have been sentenced to death by hanging over drug trafficking charges. The verdict can be appealed.
An Egyptian court has sentenced television presenter Sarah Khalifa, 39, and 11 other defendants to death by hanging after convicting them of drug trafficking offences. According to the state-owned newspaper Al-Akhram, the group imported chemicals used to manufacture narcotics with the intention of selling them, and also possessed illegal firearms and ammunition.
Khalifa is known for hosting the television programme Mission Impossible, which covered crime-related topics. She has denied the charges against her.
Verdict process
The death sentence was first handed down last month but was only formally confirmed a month later, after the court obtained a religious ruling from Egypt's grand mufti — a mandatory step in capital cases. The ruling remains subject to appeal.
During proceedings, the court was told that authorities had seized over 750kg of narcotics along with the raw materials used to produce them. Al-Akhram reported that 20 witnesses gave statements to prosecutors, and that electronic evidence, including recorded conversations and video footage, was also presented.
According to the newspaper Akhbar al-Youm, when questioned by the judge about her alleged involvement during a court hearing last September, Khalifa said she had never seen drugs before being photographed with them at the offices of the anti-narcotics authority.
Death penalty in Egypt
A 2025 report by Amnesty International recorded 492 death sentences issued in Egypt over the year, of which 23 were carried out. The report noted that defendants convicted of drug trafficking and rape were being sentenced to death despite such offences not constituting "intentional killing", the standard to which capital punishment should be restricted under international law.
