Egyptian TV presenter Sarah Khalifa sentenced to death in drug-trafficking case

Television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants have been sentenced to death by hanging in Egypt after a Cairo court convicted them in a drug case involving more than 750 kilograms of narcotics.

The defendants were found guilty of forming an organised criminal gang that procured materials for manufacturing synthetic drugs with the intention of trafficking them, the state-linked Al-Ahram reported. Prosecutors said the group imported raw materials from abroad, stored them in residential properties and divided responsibilities among procurement, manufacturing and distribution. Investigators also seized unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Nine other defendants received life sentences, while seven were acquitted. The case involved 28 defendants in total. Khalifa, 39, is known for presenting the security and crime programme “Mission Impossible” on the private Al-Mehwar TV channel. She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an event-planning company and has more than two million Instagram followers.

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never smoked a cigarette in my life

Khalifa denied the charges and told investigators she had “never smoked a cigarette in my life.” Egyptian media reported that she wept during the hearing and asked the court for mercy, saying, “Please listen to me, sir. My parents raised me well; they are people who pray, and I don’t need drug money.”

The court consulted Egypt’s grand mufti before issuing the death sentences, as required in capital cases. The opinion is non-binding. The defendants can appeal to the Court of Cassation, with recent judicial reforms providing two avenues of appeal beginning with a retrial request before an appeals court. Khalifa was arrested in April 2025. In a separate case on Saturday, the same court sentenced her to three years in prison for assaulting and filming her driver.

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Please listen to me, sir. My parents raised me well; they are people who pray, and I don’t need drug money.