24 years in prison: the court sentenced Kazakh ex-minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev
13 May 2024 17:24
Today, the Specialised Interdistrict Court for Criminal Cases of Astana sentenced former Kazakh Economy Minister Kuandyk Bishymbayev to 24 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova. He will serve his sentence in a maximum security penitentiary, reports Kommersant Ukrainian 
.
Kuandyk’s brother, Bakhytzhan Bayzhanov, will also be imprisoned. He was found guilty of concealing the murder and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
Former Minister Bishimbayev was detained on 9 November 2023 on suspicion of beating Saltanat Nukenova to death in the BAU restaurant. on 11 November, the second defendant in the case, the brother of the former minister, Bayzhanov, who was the director of the restaurant, was also detained. The trial of the former minister has been ongoing since 27 March 2024, with a jury.
What happened in the restaurant
As noted in court, Bishimbayev and Saltanat quarreled during the concert, then the quarrel continued in the restaurant, where Bishimbayev began to beat his wife. After the beating, according to Bishimbayev, Saltanat lay down on the sofa and fell asleep.
The next day, Bishimbayev left his wife lying in the restaurant, while he went out on business: he met with girls he knew, had lunch and even called a clairvoyant to find out why his wife was sleeping so long.
“He called an ambulance only in the evening of the same day, and the doctors immediately pronounced her dead.
There were many bruises on Saltanat’s body and, according to the forensic examination, she died of a “closed head injury accompanied by an acute subdural haematoma” long before the ambulance arrived.
The trial in the case of Saltanat Nukenova’s murder became a high-profile international event: all the hearings were broadcast online, there was constant discussion on social media, and spontaneous rallies against violence against women began to take place in other countries.
