Turkish authorities should immediately put a stop to the criminal investigation opened into women’s rights activists for shouting slogans at a March 8, 2021 International Women’s Day assembly in central Istanbul and ensure that judicial control measures imposed on them are removed, Human Rights Watch said today. The women are under investigation for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a criminal offense in Turkish law punishable with a one to four-year prison sentence that violates international standards on freedom of expression.