Arabic version: حكم بالإعدام على المذيعة المصرية سارة خليفة

According to France 24, an Egyptian court sentenced television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death in a case involving the manufacture and trafficking of narcotics.

Khalifa, 39, is known for her programme “Mission Impossible”, which covered security and crime issues. State-linked Al-Ahram said the Cairo court convicted the defendants of forming an organised criminal gang that procured materials for narcotics manufacturing with the intent to traffic them. The charges also included possessing and carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

The court consulted Egypt’s Grand Mufti for a religious opinion before issuing the ruling, as required in capital cases under Egyptian law. The verdict can be appealed.

State-run Akhbar Al-Youm reported that the defendants were accused of making synthetic drugs for trafficking after importing manufacturing materials from abroad. Al-Ahram said authorities seized more than 750 kilograms of narcotics and raw materials, along with two apartments used as laboratories, firearms and ammunition.

Khalifa and others also received five-year prison sentences in a separate case concerning the kidnapping and assault of a young man. Egypt applies the death penalty for premeditated murder, terrorism, some rape offences and drug trafficking. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms said 541 death sentences were issued in the country in 2025.