TV Presenter Among Egypt's 12 Death Sentences in Drug Trial
On 5 September, a Cairo criminal court confirmed that 12 people, including Egyptian television personality Sarah Khalifa, were sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of drug‑trafficking offences.
Khalifa, 39, whose programme "Mission Impossible" investigated crime, denies the charges. Prosecutors alleged that she was part of a criminal gang that imported raw materials used to manufacture drugs and that the group also possessed illegal firearms and munitions.
While Khalifa received the death sentence, nine other defendants were handed life imprisonment and seven were acquitted. Khalifa’s lawyer announced an appeal, arguing that the verdict violated both Egyptian law and international human‑rights standards.
The death sentences were initially announced last month, but were only formalised after the court obtained a religious opinion from Egypt’s Grand Mufti, a mandatory step for capital‑penalty cases.
Evidence presented at trial included the seizure of over 750 kg of narcotics and the import of raw materials. Twenty witnesses gave statements, alongside electronic records such as conversations and video clips, according to state‑run media.
Amnesty International’s 2025 report noted that 492 people were sentenced to death that year, of which 23 were executed. The report criticised the use of the death penalty for drug trafficking and rape, crimes that, it said, do not reach the threshold of "intentional killing" and therefore should not invoke capital punishment under international law.
The case has attracted global scrutiny, with human‑rights organisations calling for a review of the death‑sentence application, especially for non‑violent offences, and urging Egypt to align its practices with international criminal‑justice standards.
