Saltanat Nukenova, 31, died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a former economy minister in Kazakhstan

Bishimbayev, 44, a senior politician in the oil-rich Central Asian state was jailed for 24 years on Monday

He went on trial in April, charged with torturing and murdering his astrologer wife in November 2023

The onetime rising star in Kazakhstan politics denies that he deliberately killed her in a restaurant in Astana, the country’s capital

Defendant told the judge ‘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

‘Why’ disgraced former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, [gasped], gasped in court as the guilty for murder verdict was read by the judge

A senior politician in Kazakhstan on Monday was jailed for 24 years following his conviction for the brutal eight-hour beating of his wife, ending in the death of the 31-year-old woman in November 2023.
Saltanat Nukenova died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, the country’s former economy minister. Kazakhstan, is the largest country in Central Asia is the ninth largest in the world. The country is also a major oil producer.
Despite video evidence recorded on CCTV camera, the defendant, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who was charged with torturing and murdering his astrologer wife, denied he deliberately killed Nukenova in a restaurant in Astana, the country’s capital. 

Killed: Saltanat Nukenova, [photo], 31, died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a former economy minister of Kazakhstan inside a restaurant in Astana

Desperately seeking to avoid a life term, Bishimbayev 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.

Kuandyk Bischimbayev is caught on tape assaulting his wife Saltanat Nukenova

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.

Seen in footage [image], at the crime scene beating and torturing Nukenova inside the restaurant in Astana, that turned fatal, Bishimbayev in court denied he intended to kill his wife

Attendees at an anti-femicide rally in Kazakhstan, in memory of Saltanat Nukenova hold up a large banner with the message ‘No to domestic violence’

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 jail term of the former rising political star is a is a significant deviation in the career of a political actor, once a close confidante of ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was seen as a possible heir to former president.

Footage shows the victim, Saltanat Nukenova, being brutally assaulted by her husband, Kuandyk Bischimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, inside a restaurant owned by one of his relatives

The troubling series of recordings of the horrific assault shows Saltanat Nukenova being brutally beaten by her husband, Kuandyk Bischimbayev 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.
Defending himself during the trial the former minister acted as if he had a right to beat his wife.
Bischimbayev shocked the court when he said ‘I was clearly aware that no vital organ should [be hurt],’ prompting his mother-in-law to shout in court: ‘You were beating her to death for several hours!

A second recordings from the restaurant lobby, shows the suspect keeping up his brutal attack on his wife. Grabbing her by the throat, he is seen dragging her around a corner and walking away before turning back

Defending himself during the trial the former minister acted as if he had a right to beat his wife. Bischimbayev who was recorded battering his court, shocked the court when he said ‘I was clearly aware that no vital organ should [be hurt]’

Many Kazakhs reportedly fear that even if found guilty, Bishimbayev will evade commensurate sanction, typical of the country’s wealthy and ruling elite. Bishimbayev has a pedigree of avoiding sanction from seven years ago in a corruption case 

The victim’s brother, Aitbek Amangeldy [photo, standing in court], believes his sister’s killing has shifted attitudes about domestic violence in the country

‘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.
The physical assault led to horrific blunt force trauma that led to her death: ‘These were not “bruises” on the face, but holes in her skull, at the back of the head and even inside her,’ her relatives said.
‘Her left eye leaked out,’ one remarked.

Bishimbayev went on trial for killing of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova [photo], who died of severe head trauma caused by a strike with a ‘blunt object’ after a night out at BAU, a restaurant in in Astana, the nation’s capital in November 2023

Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, now a businessman, sits in a defendants’ cage in court in Astana, during his trial for the beating death of his much younger wife. Bishimbayev was jailed for ten years on corruption charges in 2018 before a presidential pardon by Nazarbayev after serving less than two years

On April 11, Kazakhstan’s senate approved a bill dubbed ‘Saltanat’s Law’, toughening domestic violence laws which has was signed into law four days later by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

The restaurant where the deadly assault happened belongs to one of Bishimbayev’s relatives. The defendant the court heard, who attempted destroying all CCTV evidence, also sent 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.

Bishimbayev had pled not guilty to a charge of murder with extreme cruelty and instead claimed that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries. Before he battered her to death, Nukenova [photo], tried to leave her husband multiple times, claiming repeated beatings, according to evidence presented to the court

The court that after he’d killed his wife, 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’ The couple seen in in a portrait [photo], in happier times.

‘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 Kazakhstan, destined for greatness, with close ties to the country’s then president.
However, Bishimbayev was jailed for ten years on corruption charges in 2018 before a pardon by President Nazarbayev after serving less than two years.
Nazarbayev stepped down in 2019 in favor of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, his chosen successor.

Saltanat Nukenova [right], was found dead from a traumatic brain injury the next morning in one of the restaurant’s VIP cabins, according to local media. Her politician husband former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev [left], has been charged and convicted in her death, ruled a murder

He then wed Nukenova, after divorcing his second wife Nazym Bishembayeva.
The couple met when she provided him with ‘astrological services’. They wed two months later, following his divorce, but the relationship was always tempestuous.
Reacting to the conviction, Bishimbayev’s 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.’

In a country has 100,000 registered cases of domestic violence annually, the high-profile trial involving the killing of Saltanat Nukenova has raised awareness of the epidemic of spousal abuse in Kazakhstan

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.
In the fallout of the ‘entitled reaction’ of witnesses to the crime, the suspect’s cousin, Bakytzhan Baizhanov, was jailed for four years for failure to report a crime in progress.