Former Minister of Economy of Kazakhstan Kuandyk Bishimbayev, previously convicted of bribery, received 24 years for murdering his wife and trying to cover his tracks.

Multiple abrasions and bruises on the head, a splinter fracture of the nasal bone

Former Minister of Economy of Kazakhstan Kuandyk Bishimbayev sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of his wife Saltanat Nukenova, reports Zakon.kz. The verdict was handed down by a court in Astana. In addition to Bishimbayev, the jury also found Bishimbayev's relative Bakhytzhan Baizhanov guilty. He received four years for concealment.

The crime occurred in early November last year at the BAU restaurant in Astana. As Orda reported, Bishimbayev, who was intoxicated, quarreled with his wife and beat her. The cause of death of 31-year-old Saltanat Nukenova was a head injury as a result of multiple blows. According to the investigation, Bishimbayev kicked his wife and also tried to strangle her. The former minister tried to hide traces of the crime. The video recording from the hall was partially deleted, and with the help of Baizhanov, Bishimbayev tried to create an alibi for himself.

A few days later, the ex-minister was detained. He did not admit his guilt and asked to be tried by a jury. At the preliminary hearing, Bishimbayev’s defense argued that his actions “were aimed at calming Saltanat Nukenova,” “the defendant did not have the intent to kill and did not kick Nukenova.”

Later, the investigation was able to gain access to Bishimbayev’s phone. It contained 12 videos taken on the night of the murder inside the VIP booth, on the street and in the car. In the footage, the ex-official insults Nukenova, swears, asks about her relationship before marriage with him and beats her, Kursiv.media wrote. Bishimbayev first claimed that these videos were editing, but later admitted: “Yes, I filmed these videos. I don’t remember, but I see that I was filming.”

The expert report stated that Nukenova had multiple abrasions and bruises on her face, eyelids, scalp and behind the ears, as well as a splinter fracture of the nasal bone. Experts concluded that the woman was hit in the head area about 12-13 times. Baizhanov headed the Gastrocenter, in whose building there is a restaurant where the murder took place. He claimed that after beating Nukenova he wanted to call an ambulance, to which Bishimbayev, according to him, replied: “She’s sleeping, let’s wait.” At the same time, according to Baizhanov, Bishimbayev called an acquaintance, “either a clairvoyant or a fortune teller,” whom he had often contacted before, and she said: “She’s just sleeping. Everything is fine. Her brain is tired.”

Bishimbayev, who was the Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan for several months in 2016, was already convicted in 2018 in a case of theft during the construction of a plant in Kyzylorda and bribes.

The murder case of Saltanat Nukenova became the reason for amending the Code of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses. Penalties for domestic violence have been seriously tightened. The changes were called the “Saltanat Law”.

He pulled his wife out of the toilet and began punching and kicking her in the head and body, and then choked her until she lost consciousness. Family matters

The first trial in the case of the former minister took place on March 11. The prosecutor voiced the prosecution's version according to which on the day of the murder – November 8, 2023 – Kuandyk Bishimbayev and Saltanat Nukenova were at one of the concerts in Astana. There, a quarrel occurred between them, after which they went to the BAU restaurant, owned by the defendant’s brother Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, where the conflict continued. As reported by KazTAGSaltanat that day told Kuandyk that she was finally leaving him and tried to call a taxi.

However, he did not let the girl go. Bishimbayev began to reproach her with the purchased things and jewelry, at which Nukenova, angry, took off all her clothes, except for underwear and jewelry, and threw them out in the hall where they were located. Further, according to investigators, the defendant became angry and began beating his wife.

At six in the morning, a drunken Bishimbayev led Saltanat out of the VIP room, who was wearing his jacket over her underwear. They tried to go home, but a parking security guard noticed them and stopped them. The couple returned to the restaurant. There the beating continued. Saltanat got scared and locked herself in the toilet, but Bishimbayev began to knock down the door with a metal tripod from under the music speaker. According to investigators, he pulled the girl out of the toilet and began punching and kicking her in the head and body, after which he began to choke her until she lost consciousness.

The woman died from her injuries several hours later. Bishimbayev, as follows from the prosecutor’s statement, called his relative, the director of the restaurant Bakhytzhan Baizhanov. He dismissed the staff and deleted video recordings from the cameras, which were later able to be restored. Baizhanov was instructed to carry Saltanat’s phone around the city to track geolocation, and he complied with these instructions. Now he is another person involved in this case; the man is accused of concealment and failure to report a crime.

Bishimbayev himself is charged with several articles of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan: Part 2 of Article 110 (“Torture”), Part 2 of Article 99 (“Murder committed with extreme cruelty”) and Part 2 of Article 14 (“Recidivism of crimes, dangerous recidivism of crimes”) – previously he had already been convicted of bribery, received 10 years in prison, but was released early.

Relatives of the deceased claim that Bishimbayev had raised his hand against Nukenova before, but the woman forgave him. The defendant himself does not admit guilt and considers the death of his wife an “accident.”

“I hit myself on the toilet and the floor”: what is important to know about the murder of Saltanat Nukenova

Kuandyk Bishimbayev

The interest in the trial was initially understandable, since a well-known former official in the country was in the dock. “The accused Bishimbayev is a representative of the “golden youth of Kazakhstan,” that small stratum who received all the best from the cradle: a good education and a comfortable life. And when these men in power today have no morals, no shame, no conscience, it hurts,” explains Gulzada Serzhan, head of the Kazakh human rights organization Feminita, in a conversation with Forbes Woman. The uniqueness of this process is that the official’s crime is not swept under the rug . Open broadcasts of jury trials can be seen on the website of the Supreme Court, in various media streams, on YouTube – this is the first time this has happened in Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayev's favorite

Kuandyk Bishinbaev, accused of murder, is now 44 years old. His father Valikhan Bishimbayev He has been heading various republican universities for more than 30 years. In 1996, at the age of 16, Bishimbayev graduated from school, three years later, in 1999, he received a diploma from the State Academy of Management in Almaty. Two years later, he graduated from two universities at once: Taraz State University and George Washington University in the USA under the Bolashak program (this is a scholarship for excellent students, which gives the opportunity to study for free at the world's best educational institutions). The Kazakh press has repeatedly drawn attention to inconsistencies in Bishinbaev’s public biography: it is impossible to obtain a bachelor’s degree in three years and then graduate from two universities at once in different countries.

Returning to Kazakhstan after studying in the USA, Bishimbayev worked in the financial sector. At the age of 26 he defended his PhD in economics, then became deputy minister of trade and economic development, and then assistant to the president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

From May to December 2016, Bishimbayev was the Minister of National Economy, but was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, after a year and a half, he was released on parole. He no longer held public positions. In court, Bishimbayev said that he earned from 8 to 15 million tenge per month (from 1.6 to 3.1 million rubles). This is the income he received as a co-owner of the Bau restaurant (where the tragedy occurred).

“You're a hostage there”

Saltanat Nukenova was born on May 15, 1992 in Pavlodar, graduated from school, college, and university. “We are not a family of billionaires, there were times when things were difficult. Parents gave 200% in business. So, I went to America thanks to their support, Salta went to study in England,” said her brother Aitbek Amangeldy. Saltanat became an astrologer. She drew up natal charts, made predictions, and helped with choosing a profession. She kept a blog on Instagram (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist in Russia (*aggressor country) and is banned). It was the activities of Saltanat Nukenova that attracted her future husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev.

Their relationship developed rapidly: less than six months later, in December 2022, a wedding was celebrated without legal registration – a Muslim wedding ceremony (nikah) was performed, twice. On her personal page on the social network, Nukenova then wrote: “The most golden husband! I have never regretted saying “yes”! I’m ready to roll the dough from morning to evening (that is, cook – in the Kazakh national tradition, this is what a good wife should do. – Forbes Woman) for him.”

A few months later, in March 2023, Saltanat sent her brother Aitbek a photo with bruises on her face. She asked to save the pictures, delete the correspondence and do nothing. Despite his sister’s request, Aitbek came to Bishimbayev’s apartment to pick her up. The meeting ended in a loud scandal, after which Aitbek and Kuandyk stopped communicating, and Saltanat herself reduced communication with her brother.

Other witnesses also say that bullying occurred systematically. “I arrived at their home… and I see that Saltanat has strangulation marks and rope marks on her left side. Her entire left side was bruised. I immediately thought about the bad. We sat down in a coffee shop. During the conversation, she talked about how Kuandyk is a tyrant,” recalled Nukenova’s former assistant Anara Tasova.

Saltanat tried to leave Bishimbayev several times, and even rented an apartment a couple of months before the murder. During the trial, it became known that she was afraid to finally break up with her common-law husband because he blackmailed her with an intimate video. Saltanat told her friend Aida Akhmedina (the correspondence with her was read out in court) how Bishimbayev manipulated her into filming the video, promising that after that they would break up: “He said, [что] won’t let me go, like my family has photos of the beatings and like we’ll blackmail him… And he asked to make a video of me naked, so that he would also have leverage [давления] on me, and that this is his guarantee that no one will blackmail him.”

As a result, it was this video that became the fateful circumstance due to which Saltanat found herself hostage to Bishimbayev – he allegedly threatened to post the recording on the Internet. “In Kazakhstan, great attention is paid to honor and dignity, the purity of women’s reputation. If she is seen in intimate videos, she will be subject to pressure and censure,” explains human rights activist Moldir Alban.

Bishimbayev denied blackmail in court, but confirmed the existence of the video, said that there were several of them, and even expressed his readiness to show the archive of his phone to the court. “We were husband and wife. We made these videos for ourselves,” he said.

Tragedy

In court, lawyers for the murdered woman’s family showed a photo of a watch and bracelet that Nukenova allegedly took off and threw into the toilet: according to the results of the examination, these items were torn from her hands. The amount of alcohol in the blood and urine of the dead woman (according to the examination) was insignificant, so it is impossible to say that she was unconscious at that time.

Testimony by forensic expert Khalimnazarov (right) during the trial

The second beating of Nukenova occurred at about 07:00 in the morning in the restaurant lobby, as evidenced by recordings from surveillance cameras.

The accused does not deny the beatings.

After that, Bishimbayev dragged Nukenova by the hair into the VIP booth of the restaurant, where there are no CCTV cameras. What happened there is unknown. Saltanat never came out alive.

Bishimbayev assures that she fell asleep in the booth and did not wake up. “He said that when he supposedly thought that she had fallen asleep, he covered Saltanat with a jacket (she was undressed. – Forbes Woman). He thought, okay, now she will wake up, he did not feel her pulse. And instead of calling an ambulance, he called his clairvoyant and asked if Salta was alive. She replied: “Now she’ll sleep it off and wake up.” It was the Minister of Economy, the Presidential Adviser – and this man is calling a fortune teller!” – comments media manager Aysana Ashim.

Later, Bishimbayev told the director of the establishment, his relative Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, to release the staff and also delete all recordings from video cameras (the investigation later restored them) – prosecutor Aizhan Aimaganova told the court about this. Then Bishimbayev asked Baizhanov to take the girl’s phone home, allegedly so that her brother, who was monitoring her movements by geolocation, would not come for Saltanat, and a new scandal would not occur, and on the way to stop at a shopping center and a sports club. Investigators believe that this is how he wanted to leave traces of the supposed presence of the murdered woman in other places.

Kuandyk Bishimbayev and Saltanat Nukenova on CCTV footage on the day of the murder

The ambulance call came from Baizhanov at 19:55 – more than 12 hours after the beating. At 21:40, doctors finished examining the body. “At that time, the degree of rigor mortis was “well developed.” From which experts come to the conclusion that death occurred no less than six to eight hours before the moment of discovery,” explained the lawyer of the victims’ family, Zhanna Urabakhova. On the same day, the ex-official was arrested. The death of Saltanat Nukenova was the result of a closed craniocerebral injury, the examination says. Multiple abrasions and bruises were found on her face and body, and her nose was broken. Forensic expert Takhir Khalimnazarov said that injuries consistent with strangulation were found on the body of the deceased. Bishimbayev's lawyers insist that it was an old hematoma.

The accused does not admit guilt to premeditated murder and torture.

Open process

The accused himself asked for openness of the process, being confident that he could prove that he committed the crime unintentionally. For the same reason, he petitioned to have his case heard by a jury. Forbes Woman’s interlocutors agree that Bishimbayev hopes to win over the conservative part of society, for which the concept of “uyat” is important – public condemnation of a person who does not meet moral standards . “Uyat” in relation to a woman is any “inappropriate behavior”, for example, wearing a short skirt, contradicting her husband, not bowing to older relatives, getting a divorce and even marrying a foreigner.

Understanding this very well, Bishimbayev says in court: “she threw away the earrings that my mother gave her,” “she drank alcohol,” emphasizing that she suffered from addiction. Although the forensic examination showed a low alcohol content in the blood and urine of the murdered woman, the very consumption of alcohol by a woman and disrespect for her mother-in-law are unacceptable for Kazakhs. “She [до замужества] dated married men. She said that she needed financial support,” the accused claims. “Bishimbaev constantly emphasizes that he gave gifts, tries to present Nukenova as an escort, allegedly she only fell for the money. It is not true. And what does this have to do with murder?” — media manager Aysana Ashim is indignant.

“Bishimbaev is putting on a show not for us, but for the jury. It puts pressure on stereotypes, on markers that define “good” and “bad” women, says Moldir Alban from SVET. “Unfortunately, in our country people still pay attention to whether the bride is “pure” or “not pure.” Even if it is not important to the man himself, it matters to the family, and they [члены семьи] They may insult the daughter-in-law, say that she “has the wrong reputation” and that she was not married as a virgin. In some areas they can still pull out the sheet after the wedding night, in some remote areas they can check to see if there really was blood.” As researchers Galym Zhusipbek and Zhanar Nagaeva explained in their article “The rights of kelins in Central Asia,” conservative sentiments have been intensifying in Kazakh society for 30 years after the collapse of the USSR. In the restoration of traditions, which include “uyat”, many see the revival of true “Kazakhness”, which is opposed to “Sovietness”. These ideas are supported by both men and women.

Among other things, Bishimbayev stated that Saltanat swore, which, according to tradition, is also unacceptable for a woman. Their correspondence, read out during the trial, suggests the opposite: there is no swearing in it, but it is clear how politely and even helpfully Saltanat communicated with her husband. “On November 8, Bishimbayev writes: “Salta, didn’t you order deodorant for me? Forgot as usual? Nukenova answers:

Bishimbayev also stated at the trial that the murdered woman allegedly suffered from borderline personality disorder. “He is trying to make her seem hysterical, unbalanced, that she always arranged scenes of jealousy for him, controlled him, and so on. And everything he did himself, he attributes to her. This is a typical move by an abuser,” explains human rights activist Moldir Alban.

Against this background, one is struck by the courage of Saltanat’s brother Aitbek Amangeldy, who also advocates for maximum openness of the process, while relatives of victims of domestic violence usually try not to talk about the fact that something was wrong in their family, because this is also “comfort.” ” Many social media users draw attention to how difficult it is for victims during the trial, since the judge does not stop Bishimbayev when he talks about his wife’s allegedly inappropriate behavior, which is not supported by the facts. “Not every family has the same resourceful brother who, having overcome emotions, will go to protect his sister, conduct examinations, hire lawyers and will ensure that the culprit receives punishment,” emphasizes Gulzada Serzhan from Feminita.

In one of his speeches, Aitbek Amangeldy pointed out that in Pavlodar (where the Nukenova family lives), unlike Shymkent (the hometown of the Bishimbayev family), women are not beaten – this is an important regional detail. “In more conservative regions, in the south and west of Kazakhstan, according to statistics, there is more violence against women,” notes human rights activist Moldir Alban. — Bishimbayev admitted: he kicked him several times, slapped him in the face, and hit him on the head. But his entire family is convinced that he is innocent. This is the norm for them. It's very scary”.

The authorities also advocated openness of the process. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to keep this matter under special control. “The law must be the same for everyone,” Tokayev said. According to political scientist Dosym Satpayev, there are several reasons for such an unprecedented step. It fits into the theses broadcast by the authorities “about a fair Kazakhstan, about changes and reforms.” At the same time, the authorities do not consider the trial political (this would hardly be possible if there were an opposition figure in the dock). But Bishimbayev also ceased to be “one of our own” for the authorities, Satpayev explains in a conversation with Forbes Woman: “The trial against him did not harm Tokaev’s image in any way.” Finally, this crime attracted too much public attention.