Page 65 - bne monthly magazine June 2024 Russian Despair Index

bne June 2024 EuraEusraisaia I 65
nation also viewed the case as offering government officials the chance to
make an effort to demonstrate that elite members of Kazakh society are no longer above the law.
The trial sparked widespread anger and outpourings of emotion from both men and women in the country, possibly contributing to a lasting shift in attitudes towards domestic violence.
It was the sense of this potential
shift that may have prompted Karina Mamash, the wife of Saken Mamash,
an advisor to the Kazakh ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
the determination to go public with
a video message outlining allegations of domestic abuse against her husband. She wrote to an online feminist group, NeMolchi.kz, leading to Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov publicly announcing that Saken Mamash would be recalled and dismissed.
The social resonance of Nukenova’s tragic death last November also
led to tens of thousands of Kazakhs signing a petition demanding tougher measures against perpetrators of domestic violence. Last month, senators approved a bill, dubbed "Saltanat's Law", that toughens spousal abuse laws and criminalises the act of domestic violence. Some critics, however, have described the legislation as full of holes. For instance, it fails to explicitly criminalise domestic violence as a standalone offence.
Throughout the trial, footage from surveillance cameras displayed Bishimbayev's repeated acts of violence against Nukenova during the torture, including punching, kicking, strangling and dragging by the hair. She was pulled into a room where she later died on November 9, with brain trauma determined as the cause of death.
The video footage was so disturbing that members of the jury wept in court.
Additionally, videos retrieved from the mobile phone of Bishimbayev, once known as a “golden boy” of Kazakh
politics, mobile phone depicted him insulting and demeaning Nukenova, who was visibly bruised and bloodied, in the hours leading up to her loss of consciousness.
During the trial, Bishimbayev acknowledged assaulting his wife but claimed that some of her injuries were self-inflicted. He denied any intent to torture or kill her.
Bishimbayev served as the country's economy minister from May to December 2016. He was convicted of bribery in 2018 and received a 10-year prison sentence. However, he was
granted an early release, after serving less than three years in prison, due to an amnesty and parole.
President Tokayev, who succeeded long-time Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev five years ago, has expressed his commitment to creating a fairer society with enhanced women's rights.
Government statistics show that one in six women in Kazakhstan have suffered violence at the hands of a male partner. UN statistics say that around 400 women die due to spousal violence in the country every year, though the actual death toll could be far greater than that.
Kuandyk Bishimbayev, in the center at the back, during the court hearings. Photo from the Supreme Court telegram channel.
Kuandyk Bishimbayev and Saltanat Nukenova in an undated photograph (Credit: social media).
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