Kazakh minister who killed spouse in horror assault jailed for twenty-four years
A senior politician was jailed for 24 years in Kazakhstan today over a brutal eight-hour beating of his wife.
Saltanat Nukenova, 31, died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, a former economy minister in the oil-rich state.
He was charged with torturing and murdering his astrologer wife, but he denied he deliberately killed her in a restaurant in Astana, the country’s capital.
Desperately seeking to avoid a life term, he told judge Ayzhan Kulbayeva: ‘I am guilty of intentionally causing grievous harm to her health, which resulted in death through negligence.
‘I am guilty, but not of premeditated murder.’
He was convicted of ‘murder with special cruelty’ and ‘torture’, but the sentence was less than the life term that his wife’s family had vociferously demanded.
Saltanat Nukenova, 31, died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, a former economy minister
He was charged with torturing and murdering his astrologer wife, but he denied he deliberately killed her in a restaurant in Astana
Bishimbayev gasped ‘why’ as the verdict was read by the judge
Her father said before the verdict: ‘I hope this inhuman will get a life term.’
Bishimbayev gasped ‘why’ as the verdict was read by the judge.
A video of the savage beating was so disturbing that members of the jury wept when it was shown in court what became the ‘trial of the century’ in Kazakhstan.
Locals were transfixed to online court broadcasts which heightened demands for tougher curbs on domestic violence.
The politician’s jail term is a huge fall from being a possible heir to the ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, to whom he had been close.
As if he had a right to beat his wife he shocked the court by saying ‘I was clearly aware that no vital organ should [be hurt].’
His mother-in-law shouted in court: ‘You were beating her to death for several hours!
A ‘No to domestic violence’ public rally in Kazakhstan in memory of murdered Saltanat Nukenova
Footage shows Saltanat Nukenova, 31, being brutally beaten by her husband, Kuandyk Bischimbayev, 43, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, in a restaurant belonging to one of his relatives
A second clip, from the restaurant lobby, shows the minister keeping up his brutal attack on his wife. As he grabs her throat, he drags her around a corner and starts to walk away before turning back
Local media said that many Kazakhs see Bishimbayev as typical of the country’s wealthy and powerful ruling elite. Most fear that even if he is found guilty, he will somehow escape proper punishment, as he did seven years ago in a corruption case
Nukenova’s older brother, Aitbek Amangeldy (pictured in court), told The Associated Press that he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate has shifted attitudes about domestic violence
‘I didn’t see my daughter, I didn’t bury her, I didn’t see her face.
‘How did you beat her without particular cruelty?’
Saltanat died of head wounds caused by a strike with a ‘blunt object’ after a night out in a restaurant named BAU, owned by the couple, which was closed to other guests.
She sustained horrific injuries from which she died.
‘These were not “bruises” on the face, but holes in her skull, at the back of the head and even inside her,’ said he relatives.
‘Her left eye leaked out,’ they said.
Saltanat died of head wounds caused by a strike with a ‘blunt object’ after a night out in a restaurant named BAU
In this photo released by The Kazakhstan Supreme Court Press Office’s Telegram channel on Friday, April 19, 2024, businessman Kuandyk Bishimbayev, the country’s former economy minister, sits in a defendants’ cage in court in Astana, Kazakhstan. Bishimbayev is on trial in the killing of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova
On April 11, senators approved a bill toughening domestic violence laws and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed it four days later. It has been dubbed ‘Saltanat’s Law’
He tried to destroy all CCTV evidence, and send the staff home to avoid witnesses.
‘Bishimbayev showed Nukenova pornography and asked if she was in it,’ the prosecutor alleged in court.
Nukenova tried to leave him multiple times, claiming repeated beatings, according to evidence presented to the court
When they met at the restaurant to resolve their problems, he beat her and she hid in a toilet, say reports citing law enforcement.
‘Bishimbayev broke down the door, pulled her out, and carried on beating her,’ alleged the prosecutor.
Nukenova tried to leave him multiple times, claiming repeated beatings, according to evidence
At an earlier hearing on April 3, Bishimbayev had pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder with extreme cruelty and instead claimed that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries
After her killing, Bishimbayev reportedly calmly sat down for a meal and instead of calling an ambulance, the minister admitted to the court that he had phoned ‘a clairvoyant friend’
Bishimbayev was jailed for ten years on corruption charges in 2018 before a pardon by Nazarbayev after serving less than two years
‘After dragging her out of the toilet, Bishimbayev grabbed Nukenova by the throat and strangled her, causing her to lose consciousness,’ he said.
The politician had been seen as a high-flyer in oil-rich Kazakhstan, destined for greatness.
But Bishimbayev was jailed for ten years on corruption charges in 2018 before a pardon by Nazarbayev after serving less than two years.
He then wed Nukenova, after divorcing his second wife Nazym Bishembayeva, but the relationship was tempestuous.
They had met when she provided him with ‘astrological services’, and the couple married two months afterwards, following his divorce.
The country has 100,000 registered cases of domestic violence annually
Two women buy flowers in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, April 21, 2024. A high-profile trial involving the killing of Saltanat Nukenova has raised awareness of spousal abuse in the Central Asian country
Saltanat Nukenova (pictured here with her husband) was found dead from a traumatic brain injury the next morning in one of the restaurant’s VIP cabins, according to local media
His ex-wife Nazym said: ‘It’s a tragedy…
‘My sincere condolences to Saltanat’s family.
‘I didn’t even grasp what happened when people started calling me.
‘It’s so awful, it’s utter shock.’
Rallies were held in Kazakhstan against domestic violence highlighting the case.
The UN estimates some 400 women a year are killed in Kazakhstan in domestic violence crimes.
The country has 100,000 registered cases of domestic violence annually.
The politician’s cousin, Bakytzhan Baizhanov, was jailed for four years forfailure to report a crime in progress.
Nazarbayev stepped down in 2019 in favour of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, his chosen successor.
