Crime & justice

Egypt: TV Host Among 12 Sentenced to Death for Drug Crimes

Is executing drug traffickers a moral disgrace or the just penalty for poisoning a country for profit?

Published SEP 6

Egypt: TV Host Among 12 Sentenced to Death for Drug Crimes

Story

Above: Sarah Khalifa in Paris on April 10, 2025. Image credit: Sarah Khalifa via Instagram

The Facts

A Cairo criminal court on Saturday sentenced television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging after convicting them of forming an organized criminal gang that imported materials used to manufacture narcotics for trafficking.
EgyptToday
Al Jazeera
Daily Mail
The case involved 28 defendants. Along with the 12 death sentences, the court imposed life imprisonment on nine defendants and acquitted seven others of all charges, according to the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.
New York Post
The Media Line
Authorities seized more than 750 kilograms of narcotics and raw materials and identified two apartments in Cairo used as laboratories, along with unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Khalifa was arrested in April 2025.
New York Post
Nine
El Balad
Prosecutors said the group divided roles into importing raw materials, manufacturing and distribution, and storing the products in a residential property. The referral relied on statements from 20 witnesses, plus messages, photographs and video evidence.
EgyptToday
The Media Line
Khalifa, 39, denied the charges and told investigators she had "never smoked a cigarette in my life." She hosted the crime program "Mission Impossible" on the private Al-Mehwar channel and owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and an event production company.
The Jerusalem Post
Al Jazeera
PressTV
The sentences follow the nonbinding opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti, which the law requires in capital cases, and can be appealed to the Court of Cassation. Egypt applies the death penalty for premeditated murder, terrorism, some rape offenses and drug trafficking.
The Guardian
Nine

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Hanging people over drugs is barbaric, and no amount of tough talk changes that. Egypt just joined the ranks of Iran, Saudi Arabia and China, countries that treat state-sanctioned killing as a justice policy. Lock traffickers away for years if the evidence holds up, but executing 12 people is a moral disgrace.

Godswill Red on X

Israel & World News on X

Narrative B

Anti-death penalty advocates are disregarding the fact that 750 kilograms of synthetic narcotics and cannabinoids and unlicensed firearms were seized from the defendants. Fame and a familiar face on screen shouldn't buy anyone a lighter sentence than the courts hand down. Poisoning a country for profit deserves the harshest penalty the law allows.

Egyptian Streets