The Cairo Criminal Court today, Saturday, sentenced media personality and producer Sarah Khalifa and 12 other defendants to death after convicting them in the case related to forming an organized criminal gang for trafficking in materials used in drug manufacturing.
The Cairo Criminal Court had referred Sarah Khalifa and 12 other defendants to the Grand Mufti of the Republic to seek religious opinion on the death sentence, before issuing its ruling today.
The Public Prosecution had referred 28 defendants, including Sarah Khalifa Hamada, to the competent criminal court, following charges of forming an organized criminal gang specializing in sourcing materials used in the synthesis, manufacturing, and trafficking of narcotics, in addition to possession and carrying of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
Investigations, as announced by the Public Prosecution, revealed that the defendants formed a criminal organization whose members took on various roles at different stages of the activity, starting from sourcing raw materials from abroad, through drug manufacturing, to promoting and trafficking them.
According to the investigations, the defendants used one residential property as a base for storing materials used in manufacturing and conducting manufacturing operations, with the total seizures exceeding 750 kilograms of synthetic narcotic materials and the raw materials involved in their production.
Following the findings of the investigations, the Public Prosecution undertook a number of actions against the defendants, including inventorying their properties, revealing the secrecy of their bank accounts, and freezing their funds and bank balances.
Two fugitive defendants were also placed on the travel ban and arrival monitoring lists, while the remaining defendants continue to be detained pending the case in accordance with legal procedures.
The referral decision of the defendants to trial was based on a set of evidence that the Public Prosecution stated it obtained during the investigations, including the testimonies of 20 witnesses, as well as technical and digital evidence.
This evidence included conversations, images, and video clips that the Public Prosecution claimed document aspects of the criminal activity attributed to the defendants.