In Astana, the fourth hearing on the case of the murder with particular cruelty of Saltanat Nukenova, the wife of Kazakhstan's ex-minister of economy, was held in the capital's court. During the hearing, the main suspect and husband of the murdered - Kuandyk Bishimbayev told his version of the day of Saltanat's death, and prosecutors provided the court with a video of the beating in the hall of the BAU restaurant. This is reported by UNN with reference to Kazakhstani media covering the scandalous murder.
Details
Prosecutor Aizhan Aimaganova made a motion to provide the court with the video from the surveillance cameras in the BAU restaurant, which shows ex-minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev beating his wife Saltanat Nukenova.
The footage presented to the court shows the couple getting out of the elevator and Bishimbayev grabbing the woman by the hair, striking her with his hand, causing her to fall. He then kicked her four times. He again grabs her by the hair, lifts her up, and kicks her in the face again. This is followed by another blow. He drags Nukenova by the hair into the restroom and then in the same fashion - by the hair - into the VIP stall.
The beating lasted for two minutes. According to the video, Nukenova Saltanat did not even try to resist.
In response to a clarifying question from his lawyer, Bishimbayev stated that he hit her "only with the palm of his hand.
However, judging from the testimony, the main "fight" between the spouses took place that evening in the toilet. During his testimony about the day of the murder of Saltanat Nukenova, the defendant stated that his wife allegedly fell several times and hit her face down hard on the tiles, walls, floor and toilet bowl.
She lifted herself up and was in a sort of...like a knockdown. She didn't have good control over her body and as she lifted herself up, she fell down again. In fact, she was rising, rising, and at some point her body muscles did not hold back, and she lost her balance again and hit the tiled floor with her face again. And she lay there again for a while. I was standing at the entrance to the restroom watching this. .... I started trying to lift her under her armpits so she would get to her feet and we would reach. But she was either resisting or what, I got the feeling she was resisting, not wanting to get up. I didn't have the strength to lift her up, I didn't have the strength. She got up, falling and banging her knees against the floor, the wall. It was all kind of happening like that."
The victim's husband Bishimbayev also testified before the court that he could not understand why his wife lost her balance - from the blows or because she was drunk.
She walked on her own, took a few steps, 4 steps, and again she apparently lost her coordination and fell face forward, hitting her face again. I, well, somehow, too, it was unexpected for me. I couldn't figure out for myself if she was drunk and therefore didn't realize it, or if it was the aftereffects of the blow she received, that is, this condition is head-related or because she had been drinking heavily.
Chronology of court proceedings
The main trial in this case began on March 27 with a jury trial.
At the first court hearing, he stated that he "did not have the opportunity to tell his story at the pre-trial investigation or anywhere else". He and his defense argue that there was no intent to kill on his part.
Along with the former official in the dock is his relative Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, who is charged with concealment and failure to report a crime. At the trial, he admitted that he asked to delete the surveillance videos and take Saltanat Nukenova's phone home to hide the geolocation.
At the last court hearing , the former minister talked about his life with his murdered wife for almost five hours, but he never got to the episode of the murder. He asked the court to postpone the hearing of this episode to the next session, citing that he was "tired of talking".
According to the ex-officer, his wife Saltanat was nervous, aggressive, psychologically unstable, constantly harassed him with suspicions of infidelity and jealousy, as well as abusing alcoholic beverages.