Egyptian Court Sentences TV Presenter Sarah Khalifa to Death

An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced well-known television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging after convicting them of manufacturing and trafficking narcotics as part of an organized criminal operation. The Cairo Criminal Court also convicted the defendants of possessing and carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition. The case involved 28 defendants and hundreds of kilograms of narcotics and related materials.

The court sentenced another nine defendants to life imprisonment and acquitted seven others. Egyptian law requires courts to refer death sentences to the Grand Mufti for a non-binding religious opinion before issuing a final ruling. The defendants have the right to appeal the verdict before the Court of Cassation. Authorities reportedly seized more than 750 kilograms of narcotics and raw materials and discovered two apartments allegedly being used as laboratories for manufacturing synthetic drugs.

Khalifa, 39, denied the charges and told investigators that she had never smoked a cigarette in her life, insisting on her innocence. She is known for hosting Mission Impossible, a television program focusing on security and crime that aired on the private Al-Mehwar channel. She also owns a cosmetic surgery clinic and a production company involved in parties and events and has more than two million Instagram followers. In a separate case, the same court recently sentenced Khalifa and other defendants to five years in prison over the kidnapping and assault of a young man.