what you need to know about the court case and beating to death

In Kazakhstan, one of the loudest court processes is ongoing – the fate of the ex-Minister of Economy, who beat his unofficial wife Saltanat Nukenova, after which she died, is being decided.

43-year-old former Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbaev is charged with murder with particular cruelty and torture, and his cousin Bakhitzhan Baizhanov – with hiding evidence and failing to report the crime.

On November 9, 2023, Bishimbaev beat a 31-year-old girl, and then left her in the VIP booth of a restaurant owned by his family.

Bishimbayev’s brother brought medicine for the already unconscious Saltanat, but none of the men called an ambulance.

The woman who was beaten and kicked by the ex-minister died as a result of a closed craniocerebral injury. At the same time, the politician claims that she received serious injuries as a result of falling and hitting her head on the toilet and the floor.

This case worried the public and once again drew attention to the problem of domestic violence and the weak system of punishment for such crimes in Kazakhstan.

On the 9th day of hearings, “UP. Life” tells the details of the shocking case based on broadcasts from the courtroom, as well as materials BBC News and The.Village Kazakhstan.

Beating and no “quick”. What happened?

The tragedy happened in the BAU restaurant, which belongs to the Bishimbaev family.

On November 8, 2023, Saltanat Nukenova went to a concert together with her friend and Kuandyk Bishimbaev. However, the couple quarreled during the concert and left early. They arrived together at the restaurant, where the argument continued.

According to the investigation, on the night of November 9, Bishimbaev beat his wife in a restaurant and left her to die for 6-8 hours until .

In the video from the cameras, you can see how he hits her with his hands on the face, pulls her by the hair, and when she falls, he kicks her on the hips. During the beating, Saltanat hid in one of the restaurant’s VIP cabins, but Bishimbaev broke down the door and continued to beat her.

In the last footage, you can see how he drags a naked woman by her hair to a booth, from where she never left.

According to Bishimbayev, that evening his wife drank three bottles of sparkling wine with him and was “finding out the relationship with him”.

The man claims that she called him obscenities and flushed the “expensive” accessories he had given her down the toilet, and then hit the toilet.

“She was facing the toilet with her back to me. She must have thought I was going to hold on and she jerked and I let her go and she lost her balance and […] she fell face down on the toilet. Very much”– said Bishimbaev, trying to explain the origin of the wounds on the girl’s face.

According to Bishimbayev, she “fell on the tiled floor of the toilet” while trying to get up, and then the man pushed her four or five times to bring her back to consciousness. At the same time, he claims that “no vital organs were damaged” during the strikes.

According to the conclusion of the forensic medical examination, Saltanat died as a result of a closed craniocerebral injury. Medical examiners ruled that she could not have sustained these injuries from a fall, as the defendant claims.

The woman had a broken nose and multiple head injuries. But Bishimbaev did not call an ambulance, but called his cousin Bakhitzhan Baizhanov and asked him to bring aspirin with ketonal.

The ex-minister also gave Nukenova’s phone to her brother and ordered him to take it home, and to delete part of the recordings from the surveillance video cameras in the restaurant.

Bishimbaev claims that at that moment the woman was alive, but just fell asleep on the couch and “snored.” An ambulance was called already when Saltanat’s body was cold.

Relationships and violence

Saltanat Nukenova was born on May 15, 1992 in Pavlodar and grew up with her brother Aitbek. The girl worked as an astrologer and recorded through Instagram. The ex-Minister of Economy met her there Bishimbaev, who was once sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of grand larceny, but was released on parole after a year and a half.

The sister of the deceased recalled that he tried to get to know Saltanat through “clients” who came to the session, actively wrote to her and “behaved like a stalker.” Saltanat’s friend also revealed that Quandyk had been keeping an eye on his future wife before they became romantically involved.

The ex-minister married Saltanat and they played a wedding, but were not officially married. Later, the girl began to tell her friends about quarrels and beatings by her husband.

“He doesn’t go to work and is with her 24/7. He keeps her up at night and can stay up for days himself. She said that at the slightest argument he throws away her gifts. He gave her an expensive watch and threw it away several times from the window, and then they looked for him…

She said she couldn’t even go for a manicure. He did not allow her to run social networks”– said her friend Saltanat, who went to the concert with her.

After one of the beatings, the girl’s brother came home to the couple. He and Bishimbaev got into a fight. However, the violence continued.

According to the friend, Bishimbaev often grabbed her by the hair and beat her – in particular, because she was going to meet her friends on her birthday.

According to family and friends, Saltanat repeatedly tried to leave her husband, but he said that he would not let her go. The couple sometimes disagreed, then reconciled.

Why the process caused a stir

The meetings are broadcast live and receive millions of views. During the broadcasts, even Ukrainians express their support for Saltanat and all women who suffer from domestic violence.

However, the native women are afraid of interference in the case by the influential relatives of Bishimbaev, who had previously been out of the water dry after being exposed for corruption.

Saltanat’s relatives fear that the connections and financial status of Bishimbayev’s family will allow him to escape punishment again. Saltanat’s relatives call for the offender to be fairly punished – the deceased’s father even appealed to the President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Zhomar Tokayev.

He thanked Tokayev for his assistance in the investigation of the criminal case related to the murder of his daughter, but called to check the property of Bishimbayev’s family and to confiscate everything obtained through corruption.

“Relatives of the suspect openly announce to us that their connections and financial status will allow Bishimbaev to escape punishment again. As is known for certain, the former Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Kuandyk Bishimbaev was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of corruption, but was released on parole – ahead of schedule in 2 years.

We have an unfounded and persistent opinion that even now his close relatives – perhaps Nurlybekov’s mother Almira Baltabayvna – will use all methods and levers, in particular funds, to free her son from criminal punishment, since as the founder of a number of companies and the owner of several commercial objects , she has huge financial opportunities”– stated father.

The process was also criticized due to, according to some people, “bias” towards the deceased. Some were outraged by the lawyers’ strange questions about Saltanat, such as “was she jealous.”

The entire meeting was devoted to Saltanat’s married life. The prosecutor read Saltanat’s letter at the court, in which she confessed her love for her husband, but told how she was hurt by quarrels, his jealousy and constant reproaches.

At the same time, Bishimbaev himself stated that Saltanat was “nervous”, “aggressive”, “mentally unstable”, “jealous”, and allegedly abused alcoholic beverages. On April 8, the defendant’s lawyer asked the court to attach the Saltanat notebook to the case, which contained an entry that was more like a statement:

“I, Saltanat Nukenova, promise to restore trust in Kuandik, I promise that I will not be jealous. I promise to regularly go to a psychologist, work on myself, work on my trust. I will be sincere, obedient and I will respect Kuandik (…)

I will trust his opinion, I believe that he wishes me well. I promise to take care, respect, always support my beloved Kuandyk”.

Judge Aizhan Kulbayeva was surprised: “Is it the wife who writes such a commitment to her husband? And how can it be understood? It’s the first time I’ve seen a wife write such a thing to her husband.” The request was refused.

What awaits Bishimbaev?

The trial takes place with the participation of jurors – Bishimbaev himself requested this. The hearings are ongoing: the court has already heard many witnesses and watched videos of the brutal beating.

According to the articles incriminating Bishimbaeva, the man may face 15 years behind bars if the court finds him guilty.

The side of the defendant demanded to reclassify the case from a particularly brutal murder to “negligent murder”, but the victim’s side considers this impossible.

“Causing death due to carelessness means, for example, death occurs as a result of falling from a push and hitting some object – a stone, a curb. At the same time, according to the conclusion of the forensic medical examination, more than 12-13 blows were inflicted on Nukenova’s head alone with a blunt, hard object “Zhanna Urazbakhova, the family’s lawyer, said.

Relatives of the deceased, Kazakh human rights defenders, lawyers and ordinary Internet users seek a fair sentence for the offender. The hashtag #zaSaltanat appeared on the network, and the request “Saltan” gained millions of views on TikTok.