Arabic version: الحكم بالإعدام على سارة خليفة في قضية مخدرات بمصر

According to BBC News, Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other people have been sentenced to death by hanging after convictions on drugs charges. Khalifa, 39, is best known for her television programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with crime issues. She has denied the charges, and her lawyer said she would appeal the death sentence.

State-owned al-Ahram newspaper said the defendants were part of a criminal gang that imported ingredients used to make drugs with the intention of selling them. The group was also found to have illegal firearms and munitions. Nine fellow defendants received life sentences, while seven people were acquitted.

The verdict was first announced last month and confirmed a month later after the court obtained a religious opinion from Egypt’s grand mufti, a legal requirement in death-sentence cases. During the trial, the court heard that authorities had seized more than 750kg of narcotics and imported raw materials used to make them.

Al-Ahram said 20 witnesses gave statements to prosecutors, alongside electronic evidence including conversations and video clips. State-run Akhbar al-Youm reported that, when asked by a judge about her alleged role during a court appearance last September, Khalifa said she had never seen drugs until she was photographed with them inside anti-narcotics authority offices.

A 2025 Amnesty International report recorded 492 death sentences during the year, with 23 carried out. The report said defendants had been found guilty of drug trafficking and rape, which it described as crimes not amounting to “intentional killing”, the category to which use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law and standards.