Popular Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa will sign appeal papers against her death sentence on Tuesday, her lawyer Mohamed El-Gendy said. Khalifa was convicted last week alongside 11 others in a synthetic drug manufacturing and trafficking case. She has consistently denied any involvement, saying she had never even smoked a cigarette in her life.
Euronews looked into what Egyptian law says about capital punishment in drug cases and what the appeals process could mean for Khalifa and her co-defendants. Egyptian drug law allows the death penalty for some of the most serious narcotics offences, while simple possession for personal use does not carry the same charges. Under Article 33, capital punishment can apply to offences including importing narcotics without authorisation, manufacturing them for trafficking, and forming, managing or joining a drug trafficking gang.
Prosecutors accused the 28 defendants in Khalifa's case of taking part in an organised network that brought in materials used to manufacture drugs and divided responsibilities between sourcing, production, storage and distribution. The Cairo-born Khalifa, known for hosting the crime show "Mission Impossible," was accused of providing money used to buy materials for the operation, travelling abroad to meet senior members of the network and helping coordinate its activities. Her brother Mohamed, who was also sentenced to death, was accused of manufacturing the drugs and helping test batches after they were produced.
Forensic experts identified MDMB-4en-PINACA among the seized substances. It is a laboratory-made synthetic cannabinoid that can produce effects similar to cannabis but can be much stronger and more unpredictable. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the substance has been associated with severe adverse effects, including fatal intoxications.
Its legal status also became an issue at trial. A court-appointed committee said MDMB-4en-PINACA was not specifically named on Egypt's controlled narcotics list, but concluded that it was still covered by the law because its chemical structure and effects were similar to substances already listed. The defence challenged that interpretation, but the court accepted the committee's findings.
Egypt changed its criminal procedure in 2024 by introducing a full appeal stage for felony cases. Previously, felony judgments did not have the same two-level trial structure. Under the new system, a person convicted of a felony can appeal to a higher criminal court called the Felony Appeals Court.
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