How a Domestic Violence Trial Ended Kazakhstan’s Political Nihilism

Over the past month, the public in Kazakhstan has been closely following the jury trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who was accused of brutally beating and killing his wife, Saltanat Nukenova. While formally the trial was about domestic violence, it captivated the public and mobilized many sectors of society due to its political significance.

The trial found Bishimbayev, a former Kazakh finance minister, who was previously convicted of bribery and embezzlement, guilty of torturing and murdering Nukenova. Bishimbayev was sentenced to 24 years in prison, while his accomplice and family member Bakhytzhan Baizhanov received four years behind bars.

Broadcast live, the trial sparked intense public discussions across generations, regardless of social class or political allegiances. Since the early 2010s, Kazakhstan’s activists have increasingly relied on social media to bridge vast distances across the country. Dozens of influencer accounts meticulously analyzed witness testimonies and the accused’s responses to prosecutor questioning.

Kazakh diaspora activists and international feminist groups held protests in London, Berlin, Warsaw, New York, and Riga. The guilty verdict is being celebrated internationally as well. “The kids in my neighborhood run around screaming ‘24!’, ‘24!’ First, I didn’t understand and then I got it,” one political activist in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, wrote.

The trial is a pivotal moment in transforming the public view of violence against women across Kazakhstan. More women, including spouses of government officials, came out publicly with stories of domestic violence. At least in one such case, which concerned Saken Mamash, a Kazakh diplomat in the United Arab Emirates, a criminal investigation was launched into allegations of torture that could lead to years of imprisonment.

The public is closely watching the unfolding of this case and focusing attention on reports of police refusing to intervene when called for help; artists are incorporating images of women suffering from domestic violence in public exhibitions; and feminist civil society groups are now increasingly joined by their male allies in publicly calling for protection from violence for women and children in Kazakhstan.

Perhaps most importantly, the trial is a symbol of how former government officials can be held accountable.

High-level corruption was a key grievance during the nationwide unrest in January 2022 that lasted for days and only stopped after the government killed more than 200 people and injured thousands more. Since then, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has promised to build a “new Kazakhstan” along with political and economic reform, but distrust in the government remains. Bishimbayev, who was previously pardoned by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, embodies such lack of accountability that allows elites to amass resources and power. Many had feared that Bishimbayev’s connection to the government would result in a shorter sentence.

Although Bishimbayev was not a government official and was forbidden to hold high official posts, he begged for forgiveness from Tokayev, signaling loyalty to the president. But Tokayev publicly stated that the interest of the nation was more important for him than personal relations or loyalty of officials.

Tokayev was marking himself off from Nazarbayev’s personalized regime, which was highly unpopular. The trial was a test of Tokayev’s promise to elevate national interests over personal connections. The outcome was a surprise even for feminist activists in Kazakhstan, some of whom rallied for life imprisonment for Bishimbayev. The public reaction on social media was largely positive.

Just as Tokayev used the unsubstantiated claim of “20,000 foreign-trained terrorists” instigating the January 2022 chaos as a reason for his harsh response, Bishimbayev fiercely maintained his innocence in court, at times blaming Nukenova for being “hysterical” and “frivolous,” accusing her of adultery. Bishimbayev admitted that his actions caused her death but insisted that he was facing “emotional turmoil” after the couple had a long argument. He tried to implicate Nukenova for causing his mental health struggles and provoking his aggression. Just as many in Kazakhstan refused to believe Tokayev’s interpretation of the 2022 violence, Bishimbayev’s victim-blaming tactics also fell flat.

The trial is the first of its kind to litigate the legitimacy of violence in Kazakhstan. Many victims of the January 2022 violence never saw law enforcement officials held accountable. Among those killed were children and young people whose families were denied the right to channel their grief publicly. Given the unexpected public interest in the case, the government faced the risk of renewed protests. Last month, in response to an online petition garnering more than 150,000 signatures in support of increasing penalties for domestic violence, Kazakhstan adopted “Saltanat’s Law.”

The public pressure on Tokayev was formidable: It targeted his own notion of “New Kazakhstan”; being seen as protecting people like Bishimbayev risked resembling the “old Kazakhstan” under Nazarbayev. Many in Kazakhstan, especially women, said they were ready to protest in the event of an acquittal.

It is a major reversal just seven years after Kazakhstan effectively decriminalized domestic violence, joining countries such as Belarus and Russia in having little to no protections in place. In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, families of girls and women kidnapped into marriage still often refuse to take them back, fearing public shaming.

The trial also tested the efficiency of the judicial reform in Kazakhstan. The jury, comprising 10 people with two alternates, decided the verdict, but the judge seemed to lean toward the accused. An unlikely hero emerged: Aizhai Aimaganova, a female prosecutor, who firmly pressed the accused with pointed questions. In her final address to the jury, she linked the magnitude of Nukenova’s case with the national consciousness and powerfully cited “Words of Edification” by Abai Kunanbaev, a 19th-century enlightenment intellectual who united liberals and conservatives in Kazakhstan. After the end of the trial, Aimaganova said she would continue her job as a prosecutor, calling on more women to report cases of domestic abuse.

Finally, the trial drew the attention of millions of Russian-speaking audiences in neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Russia. Russian socialite Ksenia Sobchak and Russian opposition TV channel Dozhd reported on the case to their audiences. Kazakhstan’s adoption of Saltanat’s Law takes the country in the opposite direction of Russia, which decriminalized most forms of domestic violence in 2017 for the supposed protection of so-called traditional family values. Increasingly, Russia—which once presented itself as a model of development for Central Asian states to aspire to—is perceived as backward compared with Kazakhstan.

Nukenova’s death highlighted the power imbalance between powerful men and those whose freedoms can be taken away in an instant. She left a trail of Instagram images of her happier days as a young woman living a lavish life. The involvement of the victim’s family is symbolic for Kazakh society, and their decision to mobilize society around the case has broken the stigma for victims of violence. Only two out of every 10 victims of domestic violence file a case against their offenders in Kazakhstan, while the United Nations estimates that more than 400 women die in the country every year from spousal abuse.

Although the trial’s ending offered closure for the public, the hard work in enforcing laws against domestic violence continues. As with other cases of similar mobilization against violence against women in India, Mexico, and Turkey, legal proceedings can bring temporary relief. But beyond condemnations of this one incident, courts and public officials are likely to continue to blame victims and accuse some women of inviting male violence. Less privileged women abused by their family members won’t gain the same level of public attention.

The lasting legacy of Nukenova’s case is likely to be the expansion of civic consciousness among Kazakhs. Since the government denied justice to the victims of the January 2022 protests, many citizens had been mired in political nihilism and fear that the protests were in vain. The trial snapped them out of their despair and has become a symbol of hope that the law can lead to justice—not just be used by the government to repress dissent.