Sarah Khalifa was a familiar face on Egyptian television, with millions of followers on Instagram after nearly two decades working for Egyptian, Saudi and Iraqi channels and running her own businesses on the side.
On Saturday in a Cairo courtroom she was sentenced to death by hanging, alongside 11 others found guilty of being part of a drugs network.
The conviction of a prominent television personality for drugs offences has gripped public attention, with footage showing parts of the trial being circulated on social media, and the verdict has been discussed widely, with the majority of comments deeming Khalifa's sentence too harsh.
Her lawyer, Mohamed El Gendy, said Khalifa would appeal her conviction, citing what he called procedural legal errors during the trial. The court's verdict would be “as if it never existed and it will be cancelled at the appeal stage before reaching cassation”, he said.
What Khalifa was convicted of
The court found Khalifa and her co-accused guilty of having formed an organised criminal group that imported chemicals, manufactured synthetic narcotics inside Egypt and trafficked the product, alongside unlicensed firearms and ammunition, according to a summary published by state media.
Nine others received life sentences, while seven of the 28 initially charged were acquitted.
Prosecutors said the network was headed by three men, two of whom were abroad and tried in absentia. They were also sentenced to death alongside Khalifa, who was “the manager of the criminal formation, the funder of expenses and the dealmaker, and the link between members of the group inside and outside the country”, according to the prosecution's closing arguments.
Prosecutors said Khalifa used her companies as cover to move money and that the network's plan “began in an Asian state and ended in Egypt”. They asked for the maximum sentence “for the gravity of the danger, the novelty of the pattern and the extent of the harm”.
The substance in question, according to a number of media reports, was a synthetic cannabinoid known in Egypt as El Bodra, meaning “the powder” in English, a designer drug that has spread rapidly through Egyptian cities in recent years. According to other reports, the network was also trafficking GHB, known as a date rape drug.
Investigators seized more than 750kg of El Bodra and related materials from two apartments that had been converted into laboratories, the Interior Ministry said.
'I don't need drug money'
Khalifa has denied all charges since her arrest in April 2025.
One video of the trial shows her weeping as she pleads with the court, saying she had “never smoked a cigarette in my life”, and had never seen or had any knowledge of the narcotics until she was photographed with them in the offices of the anti-drugs agency.
“My parents raised me well, they are people who pray, and I don't need drug money,” she can be heard saying.
Many details of the case have not been revealed to the public, leading to calls on social media for more transparency concerning the evidence against Khalifa.
Crime-show presenter
The Cairo-born presenter became a household name after she began hosting the show Mission Impossible on the private Al-Mehwar channel in 2015. The programme about crime and public-order issues was produced in co-operation with the Interior Ministry and ran for about four years. It featured interviews with police officers, security officials and, on occasion, suspects. Some segments were filmed inside police stations.
Khalifa has hosted several other programmes including, most recently, one with popular Mahraganat singer Hamo Beeka, but her public profile owes much to a brief and very public marriage to footballer Mahmoud Abdel Moneim, better known as Kahraba, in 2016.
She has also built a commercial life around a beauty clinic and an events-planning company, and told followers she has organised parties in Dubai.
What happens next
Saturday's verdict is not final. Under Egyptian criminal procedure, those accused of capital crimes may lodge an initial appeal before a specially constituted court and later to the Court of Cassation.
Egyptian courts issued 492 death sentences in 2025, of which 23 were carried out, Amnesty International says. Many were for drug trafficking, whereas international human rights groups argue that capital punishment must be restricted to cases of “intentional killing”.
While the sentence against Khalifa has caused a stir, it is not necessarily because people believe she is innocent.
Authorities say that after her arrest, they discovered a video on her phone of her driver being held captive naked at her home in 2021.
However, there appears to be unanimity that hanging her on the basis of evidence that has not been made public would set a worrying precedent and that the state owes the country a clearer accounting before the noose is prepared.
