More than a Year Later: How Has Kazakhstan Changed after Saltanat Nukenova's Death?

cover Collage Orda.kz

On the night of November 9, 2023, Kyandyk Bishimbayev took Saltanat Nukenova's life in Astana, bringing about public outcry. Orda.kz has decided to look into what has changed in Kazakhstan.

"Saltanat's Law"

The law on the protection of women and children from violence is in force in Kazakhstan. Its adoption was indeed long in coming; public pressure is arguably why it was finally brought in. 

Society dubbed it "Saltanat's Law." Such progress received praise abroad, including from US representatives. 

Liability for domestic violence has been tightened, but the law did not include the prevention of domestic conflicts. Senators also voted to introduce the concept of "traditional family values." 

According to lawyer Khalida Azhigulova, this could, on the contrary, allow aggressors to continue their behavior.

Orda.kz sent an inquiry to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs press service to understand how the law operates:

This law came into force on June 16 this year. Since then, line '102' has received more than 27 thousand messages concerning domestic and family incidents, which is 33% less than the same period last year. Every year, the police receive about 100 thousand messages on domestic violence. Response measures are taken on all of them.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also stated that, over the first ten months of this year, 91,000 people were held administratively liable and 24 thousand arrested.

At the request of the police, the courts have established 16 thousand specific requirements for offenders' behavior, of which more than half of the offenders are prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages. 265 offenders have been temporarily removed from their homes (for up to 30 days). The courts have ordered 213 offenders to undergo mandatory psychological assistance in health care agencies, the department assured.

However, according to #NeMolchi's founder, Dina Tansari, the law is not working very appropriately:

To be honest, I don't see any global changes. I don't see the law working because the police's attitude towards crimes against women hasn't changed. All these legislative norms that we were told about, 'arrest for up to 50 days' - there is no such thing. They still arrest people for 5-10 days, just as they used to.

And the reason for such problems, as Tansari says, is a lack of knowledge:

In general, police don't know how the new law works.

There have been positive shifts as well.

No Longer Taboo

Tansari says changes have occurred in Kazakhstanis' consciousness. Women have begun understanding that they must contact the police. Some of our reports confirm such statements: the wife of a Kazakhstani diplomat, Karina Mamash, who openly reported abuse, or the famous TV presenter and ex-senator Dana Nurzhigit.

The Bishimbayev trial was followed all over Kazakhstan; foreign media wrote about it, and gatherings in her memory were held worldwide.

Dina Tansari believes the trial demonstrated what an aggressor looks like and how they manipulate people's opinions and blame their victims. Women have, therefore, begun to see who an abuser is. Many have seen themselves in Saltanat, and many saw abusers in Bishimbayev. 

Previously, we had to explain what kind of people they are, how they behave in a family. It was always difficult to see them, but now, after the case with Bishimbayev, it has become very clear and obvious. This is a lesson for the whole society: what an aggressor looks like and what a victim looks like. And most importantly, women have learned not to remain silent! We receive a lot of requests, despite our unfortunate  situation (Tansari is refering to NeMolchi's situation - Ed.), despite the prosection by the authorities and the paid-for hate. Nevertheless, they come to us, and we have not even slowed down. We received up to 60-65 requests from victims of violence per day, she adds.

Public Trials

What Kazakhstanis had never heard of before was public trials being streamed and broadcasted. Many had seen similar trials in other countries, and it was hard to imagine this was possible in their own backyard.

Tired of dissociating herself with fake accounts, the prosecutor opened a personal page. Aizhan Aimaganova indeed gained widespread popularity. In a few days, more than 200,000 people started following her.

Kazakhstan remembers two other such trials: the trial of a passenger who struck a female bus driver in Almaty and the trial of an ambulance driver who was assaulted in Qaraganda.

Unfortunately, we have practically no public trials like the one against Bishimbayev. Those public trials that were held were trimmed in some ways. Not all participants in the proceedings were shown, says lawyer Galym Nurpeisov.

He believes that the publicity surrounding the Bishimbayev case was a plan with a specific purpose — not to show the openness of the trial but to create a specific public opinion for adopting certain laws. 

So, the openness, the publicity that was shown in one case cannot now be compared with the openness of the proceedings in other cases. Therefore, the authorities open up these proceedings only when they need to and for a specific purpose, but not to deliver the right to openness and publicity, the lawyer believes.

As an example, he cites the trial of journalist Duman Mukhametkarim, accused of supporting extremism.

There are no state secrets there, nor any grounds for holding a closed trial. Why was this trial held behind closed doors, while Bishimbayev's was held openly? Therefore, there is no criterion here by which the authorities want to show some kind of transparency. They select the trials that they need for certain political purposes,  Galym Nurpeisov believes. 

In Galym Nurpeisov's opinion, the remote format should be used when necessary. We need a “decent certified program in courts, specifically of domestic production,” which allows these processes to be documented. 

The proceedings that go with audio and video recording, firstly, you can’t see faces; secondly, the audio runs ahead, and the video, on the contrary, slows down,  he added. 

An Activist 

Aitbek Amangeldy, Saltanat Nukenova's brother, has become a new activist.

He has gained wide popularity. He actively participates in human rights activities and courts and discusses unfairness.

Aitbek Amangeldy founded a volunteer network to help domestic violence victims, and in nine months, according to him, they have managed to support more than 1,500 women. 

He has also pushed for opening the Saltanat Nukenova Memorial Fund, where women could receive support. However, as he claims, the Ministry of Justice continues to reject its registration. In September, reports emerged that the human rights activist had already received a seventh refusal, but he does not intend to stop there. 

Nikah

The imam of the Republican mosque in Astana, who conducted the nikah ceremony between Kuandyk Bishimbayev and Saltanat Nukenova, was held accountable for violating the regulations.

The ceremony was held on October 17, 2022, in the main mosque. However, according to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan (SAMK) requirements, imams must request a marriage certificate issued by a registry office. They did not have one.

Clause 3 of Article 2 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 26, 2011 'On Marriage and Family' states that only marriages concluded by state bodies are recognized. K. Kydyrmin, the imam of the main mosque of the republic, who did not request a marriage certificate, thereby violating the internal order of the DUMK, was brought to disciplinary liability,  The Spiritual Directorate of Muslims (DUMK) stated.

To find out how the current state surrounding such rituals, we contacted the DUMK.

They declined to answer our questions, as they had spoken about this topic many times. They also did not provide statistics on the number of such ceremonies performed: the department responded that they do not maintain figures and that it is better to contact representatives of a specific mosque on this issue.

We did so.

Gulzira Zhidebay, the press secretary of the Central Mosque of Almaty, gave a short answer: marriage documents have always been checked, and only after that is a nikah performed.

She claims that there have been 842 such ceremonies over the past year. 

Saltanat Nukenova was found dead on November 9, 2023, in the BAU restaurant on the second floor of the Gastrocenter in Astana. The same day, former Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev was detained as a suspect. 

On May 13, 2024, the court sentenced him to 24 years in a maximum security colony under two articles: paragraph 5, part 2, article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Homicide with Particular Cruelty”) and paragraph 1, part 2, article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Torture”).

Original Author: Ivan Grozny

This is a translated piece. The original article was published on 8/11/24 in Russian. For accuracy, please refer to it.

Latest news

view all