Bishimbayev was sentenced to 24 years for the murder of his wife

In Astana, the jury returned a guilty verdict in the case of the former Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who was accused of murdering his wife Saltanat Nukenova. The broadcast was conducted on the court's YouTube channel.

Bishimbayev was given 24 years in a maximum security colony. The court sentenced his cousin Bakytzhan Baizhanov to four years in prison for concealment and failure to report a crime.

The meeting was held in open mode. In his last word, Bishimbayev partially admitted his guilt, while denying the fact of premeditated murder.

According to investigators, in November last year Bishimbayev beat his wife Saltanat Nukenova to death. This happened in an elite restaurant in Astana.

The former minister was accused of “causing physical and mental suffering through systematic beatings with the use of violent acts committed against a person who is financially dependent on the perpetrator” (clause 1 of part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan) and “murder committed with particular cruelty” (clause 5 of part 2 of article 99 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan).

The Bishimbayev case caused a great public outcry from the very beginning of the process. Amid the hearings and the discussion that erupted on social networks about the need to legislatively protect victims of domestic violence, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law criminalizing domestic violence.

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