ASTANA -- Former Kazakh Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for the "violent beating" to death of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in November 2023, disappointing activists and her family, who wanted the court to send a message for women's rights with a life sentence.
In a high-profile case watched by millions around the country amid government pledges to strengthen women's rights, Judge Aizhan Kolbaeva of the Inter-District Criminal Court in Astana on May 13 also sentenced Bishimbaev's cousin Baqytzhan Baizhanov to four years in prison for not reporting the crime, which he witnessed while in progress.
Bishimbaev and Baizhanov, as well as the victim's relatives and prosecutors, have 15 days to appeal the court's ruling.
The victim's father, Amangeldi Nukenov, told journalists hours before the court pronounced its decision that "any ruling other than life in prison will be considered as unjust by us."
The jury found Bishimbaev guilty of torture, murder with extreme violence, and repeatedly committing serious crimes.
Bishimbaev, 44, showed no emotion while the judge handed down her ruling and said he had no questions after the judge asked him if everything was clear to him. Baizhanov seemed shaken and stated that the court "incarcerated an innocent person."
Shortly after the judge pronounced the court's ruling, the Feminita women's rights group held a march in the center of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, rejecting the court's decision and demanding a harsher sentence for Bishimbaev.
"We do not accept the court's ruling, [Bishimbaev] must stay in prison for life. He will use all of his means to get an early release. We call on everyone to protest the ruling," Zhanar Sekerbaeva, one of Feminita's leading activists, said.
For millions of Kazakhs the courtroom proceedings streamed live by the Supreme Court and picked up by some of Kazakhstan's largest online media outlets has made for compulsive, if often harrowing, viewing.
Bishimbaev was arrested in November and accused of viciously beating his 31-year-old wife for hours in a restaurant that belonged to a relative. Nukenova's body was later found in the restaurant.
During the trial, security camera footage showed the former cabinet minister kicking and punching Nukenova repeatedly before he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into a nearby room.
Video from his phone showed him insulting and yelling at Nukenova in the room for hours before she died after losing consciousness.
The case has highlighted growing outrage over domestic violence in Kazakhstan, where one in six women say they have faced some form of physical violence at the hands of their male partner.
Domestic violence has historically gone unpunished in the former Soviet republic, where it is not considered a stand-alone criminal offense.
Amid the public outcry over the brutal death of Nukenova, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev publicly called on the Interior Ministry to take the case under its "special control" during the investigation.
SEE ALSO: Does Kazakhstan Want To Stop Violence Against Women Or Just Control The Message?Bishimbaev served as economy minister from May 2016 until late December of the same year. Before that, he held different managerial posts at government agencies.
In 2018, Bishimbaev and 22 others faced a high-profile corruption trial that ended with his conviction on charges of bribery and embezzlement while leading a state-controlled holding company.
A court in Astana sentenced him to 10 years in prison, but Bishimbaev, who comes from an influential family, was granted an early release through a mass amnesty issued by the government. He had served only 18 months of his term.
The Interior Ministry has said that more than 100,000 cases of domestic violence are officially registered each year, though the number of unregistered cases is much higher, analysts say.
International rights watchdogs have urged Kazakh officials to curb the spread of domestic violence for years.
Around 400 women die from domestic violence every year in Kazakhstan, according to UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
However, the actual number of cases and deaths, analysts say, is likely much higher.