Woman sits on key court in Egypt first

Egyptian female judge Radwa Helmi Ahmad sits on her first court hearing at the State Council in the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2022.

Radwa Helmi made history on Saturday as the first woman judge to sit on the bench of Egypt's State Council, a top court in the Arab country.

Helmi, making her appearance in a Cairo courthouse, was among 98 women appointed last year to join the council, one of Egypt's main judicial bodies, following a decision by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"The 5th of March has become a new historical day for Egyptian women," said the head of the National Council for Women (NCW), Maya Morsi.

The move came ahead of the March 8 International Women's Day.