Egyptian TV host sentenced to death in drug trafficking case
Sarah Khalifa, a well known tv host in Egypt has been given the death penalty along with 12 others for trafficking drugs, The New Arab and agencies report on August 5.
The verdict set out by the Criminal Court in Cairo on August 4th has been referred to the Grand Mufti in Egypt. The non-binding verdict decided by the Grand Mufti is expected to been given on September 5th.
In any case where the verdict is the death penalty, referral to the Grand Mufti is required. The Grand Mufti refers to the leading Islamic jurist and with Nadheer Ayyad serving in the role since 2024 in Egypt.
The “Grand Drug Case”, a name assigned to the case by the media consists of 13 defendants (Khalifa and 12 others) being accused of the manufacture and trafficking of drugs.
According to a police investigation, the defendants were operating the trafficking of the drugs from the same property where they allegedly produced and stored the narcotic materials.
Authorities say these synthetic drugs were made from imported materials with more than 750kg of drugs and other materials were recovered by the police.
When Khalifa was arrested in April 2025 on suspicion of manufacturing and trafficking drugs, all her assets were frozen.
The tv personality is also part of another criminal trial a she has been accused of sexually assaulting her driver in her apartment. A verdict is expected to be decided soon by a court of law.
All allegations have been denied by the tv host and her lawyer claims she doesn’t own any property where the alleged assault occurred in New Cairo.
The authorities have obtained video evidence of the incident which prosectors say happened in 2021. The video footage has been taken from Khalifa’s phone after her arrest.
The New Arab plus agencies, Maghrebi.org
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