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A SENIOR politician was jailed for 24 years today after killing his wife in a brutal eight hour beating filmed on CCTV.
Saltanat Nukenova, 31, died of brain trauma after the vicious attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, Kazakhstan’s ex-economic minister.
AP
CCTV shows Kuandyk Bishimbayev holding Saltanat Nukenova by her head
APHe had been charged with torturing and murdering his astrologer wife, but he denied he deliberately killed her in a restaurant in Astana.
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.
Her father said before the verdict: “I hope this inhuman will get a life term.”
Bishimbayev gasped “Why?” as the verdict was read by a female judge.
He claimed he was “innocent”
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, with comparisons to the O J Simpson case.
Locals were transfixed to online court broadcasts which heightened demands for tougher curbs on domestic violence.
The politician’s jail term is a huge fall from being a possible heir to the ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, to whom he had been close.
As if he had a right to beat his wife he shocked the court by saying “I was clearly aware that no vital organ should [be hurt].”
His mother-in-law shouted in court: “You were beating her to death for several hours!
“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?”
Glamorous 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.
She sustained horrific injuries from which she died.
“These were not ‘bruises’ on the face, but holes in her skull, at the back of the head and even inside her,” said he relatives.
“Her left eye leaked out,” they said.
He tried to destroy all CCTV evidence, and send 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.
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.
“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 oil-rich Kazakhstan, destined for greatness.
But Bishimbayev was jailed for ten years on corruption charges in 2018 before a pardon by Nazarbayev after serving less than two years.
He then wed Nukenova, after divorcing his second wife Nazym Bishembayeva, but the relationship was tempestuous.
They had met when she provided him with “astrological services”, and the couple married two months afterwards, following his divorce.
His 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.”
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.
The politician’s cousin, Bakytzhan Baizhanov, was jailed for four years forfailure to report a crime in progress.
Nazarbayev stepped down in 2019 in favour of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, his chosen successor.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
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