TV presenter among 11 sentenced to death in Egypt drugs case

An Egyptian criminal court in Cairo sentenced television presenter Sarah Khalifa, 39, and 11 co-defendants to death by hanging on September 6, 2026, after convicting them of running an organized drug-trafficking gang that imported raw materials to manufacture synthetic narcotics for sale, alongside illegal firearms and ammunition charges; nine further co-defendants received life sentences and seven were acquitted, in a case involving 28 total defendants and the seizure of more than 750kg of narcotics and precursor materials. Khalifa, best known for hosting the crime-focused TV program "Mission Impossible" on Al-Mehwar and for running a cosmetic-surgery clinic and event-planning business with over two million Instagram followers, was arrested in April 2025; she denied the charges throughout, tearfully telling the court "I've never smoked a cigarette in my life" and that her parents "raised me well." Prosecutors said the gang divided roles between procurement, manufacturing and distribution of the drugs, stored at a residential property, and presented 20 witness statements along with electronic evidence including intercepted conversations and video. The verdict, first announced in August, required confirmation by Egypt's grand mufti under a legal requirement for capital cases before being finalized; Khalifa's lawyer said she would appeal to Egypt's Court of Cassation, and she was separately sentenced the same day to three years in prison in an unrelated case for assaulting and filming her driver.

Egypt applies the death penalty for drug trafficking, terrorism and premeditated murder; according to a 2025 Amnesty International report cited in coverage, Egypt issued 492 death sentences in the prior year, with 23 carried out, and the report criticized the country's use of capital punishment for drug offenses as exceeding the "intentional killing" standard required under international law.