Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa, the 39‑year‑old host of the crime programme Mission Impossible, has been sentenced to death by hanging by a Cairo criminal court after being convicted in a case involving the manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs. The ruling is subject to appeal.
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The verdict was issued on Saturday after the court received the Grand Mufti's non-binding religious opinion, a required step in Egyptian capital cases.
The decision has reverberated across Egypt's media and entertainment sectors, where Khalifa built a public profile around crime reporting.
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Egyptian Court Hands Down Death Sentence for Mission Impossible Host
For context, Egyptian authorities arrested Khalifa as part of an investigation involving 28 defendants in April 2024, in a case involving the alleged manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs.
Authorities said they seized more than 750kg of narcotics and materials used in their production, along with unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
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The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Khalifa and 11 co‑defendants to death by hanging after convicting them of forming an organised criminal gang that procured materials used to manufacture narcotics with the intent to traffic them, and of possessing and carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
Nine other defendants received life sentences, while seven were acquitted, accounting for all 28 defendants in the case.
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Khalifa and other defendants have also faced a separate case involving the alleged kidnapping and assault of a young man. Few additional details about that proceeding have been made public in the sources currently available.
Under Egyptian law, courts must seek a non‑binding religious opinion from the Grand Mufti before formally issuing a death sentence. The opinion does not determine the outcome. The court issued the death sentences on Saturday after receiving the Mufti's opinion.
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Sarah Khalifa Drugs Case: What We Know About the Evidence and Verdict
Khalifa has denied the charges. During a court appearance in September 2025, she told the judge she had never seen drugs until she was photographed with them inside the anti-narcotics authority's offices, according to the state-run newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm.
The death sentences were issued on Saturday after the court received the non-binding religious opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti, a mandatory consultation in capital cases under Egyptian law.
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The opinion does not determine the outcome, but the court must seek it before formally issuing a death sentence.
The ruling is not final. Egyptian law allows defendants sentenced to death to appeal to the Court of Cassation, the country's highest criminal court, which can uphold the verdict, overturn it or order a retrial.
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Available court documents and state media reports do not provide a detailed breakdown of the evidence attributed specifically to Khalifa, beyond the general findings against the group.
Khalifa and other defendants have also faced a separate case involving the alleged kidnapping and assault of a young man. Few additional details about that proceeding have been made public in the reports currently available.
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The case has drawn international attention not only because of Khalifa's public profile but also because of Egypt's use of the death penalty for offences that do not involve intentional killing.
Amnesty International's report on death sentences and executions in 2025, published in May 2026, recorded 492 death sentences and 23 executions in Egypt that year.
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Amnesty International has criticised Egypt's use of the death penalty for crimes that do not involve intentional killing, saying such cases conflict with international standards.
Rights groups have long argued that capital punishment should be restricted to the 'most serious crimes' under international law.
The death sentences have been reported by multiple news organisations and Egyptian media, but the ruling is not final and remains subject to appeal.
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