Why has a live-streamed murder trial in Kazakhstan sparked national outcry?

Some people may find some of the details in this story distressing.

A trial of a former government official charged with killing his wife has put the spotlight on domestic violence in Kazakhstan.

A video showing an attack, publicly aired in the country's first live-streamed murder trial, has led to the government enacting a tougher law on spousal abuse.

Why has this trial gained so much traction, how is it progressing, and will it change how domestic abuse cases are treated in the central Asian country?

Who is on trial and what is happening in court?

Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan's former economy minister, is on trial following the death of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova,

Ms Nukenova, 31, was found dead in November in a restaurant owned by one of her husband's relatives.

Bishimbayev, who was charged with torturing and killing his wife, maintained his innocence for weeks but admitted on Wednesday in court that he had beaten her and “unintentionally” caused her death.

His lawyers initially disputed medical evidence indicating Ms Nukenova died from repeated blows to the head.

They also portrayed her as prone to jealousy and violence, although no video from the restaurant's security cameras that was played in court has shown her attacking Bishimbayev.

Why has the trial got so much attention?

There are several factors contributing to how much attention this trial has received, including the high-profile status of Bishimbayev as a former government minister, and the fact that it is the first trial to be streamed online.

Huge swaths of the country's 19 million residents have been watching the trial unfold live.

CCTV footage serving as a key piece of evidence in the trial was also shown, and it was particularly disturbing.

Bishimbayev is seen dragging his wife by her hair, and then punching and kicking her. Hours after it was recorded, she died of brain trauma.

The 44-year-old Bishimbayev was once seen as a Western-educated face of Kazakhstan’s government under former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. But he was then jailed for bribery in 2018 before being pardoned fewer than two years into his 10-year sentence.

The trial is still underway and police are investigating telephone threats reported by Judge Ayzhan Kulbayeva after she disallowed forensic evidence from defence lawyers alleging Ms Nukenova’s death could have been caused by a preexisting condition.

The next step in the trial will be the closing arguments.

How have people responded to the trial?

Days after Ms Nukenova's death, her relatives launched an online petition urging authorities to pass “Saltanat's Law” to bolster protection for those at risk of domestic violence. It quickly got over 150,000 signatures.

As Bishimbayev’s trial began, more than 5,000 Kazakhs wrote to senators urging tougher laws on abuse, according to local media reports.

On April 11, senators approved a bill toughening spousal abuse laws, and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed it four days later.

Aitbek Amangeldy, Ms Nukenova’s elder brother and a key prosecution witness, said he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate has shifted attitudes about domestic violence.

“It changes people’s minds when they see directly what it looks like when a person is tortured,” Mr Amangeldy said in a video interview, citing the video played in court.

Mr Amangeldy added that the law's final version failed to include all the provisions his family and allies had wanted, noting that “we still have no legal norms around stalking and harassment" of adults.

The proposals encountered fierce pushback from the Kazakh Union of Parents, an influential association that echoes Russia’s opposition to feminist initiatives and LGBTQ+ rights.

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Kazakhs are riveted by Ms Bishimbayev’s trial, and debates about it are dominating social media.

Many see it as a key opportunity for the president to live up to promises of reform and a commitment to hold government officials accountable for their behaviour.

How big a problem is domestic abuse in Kazakhstan?

According to a 2018 study backed by UN Women, the United Nations’ gender equality agency, about 400 women die from domestic violence each year in Kazakhstan, although many abuse cases go unreported.

In 2017, Kazakhstan decriminalised beatings and other acts causing “minor” physical damage, making them punishable only by fines or short jail terms. Russia enacted a similar law that year, outraging women’s rights advocates.

Kazakhstan's new law reverses this, increasing penalties for assailants and introducing new criminal offences, including harassment of minors.

Viktoriya Kim, a Kazakhstan-based researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the very notion of "domestic violence” is absent from the country's criminal code. Including it, she said, would send “a clearer signal.”

But Mr Amangeldy argued that Kazakh society has clearly “passed a point of no return.”

“For years, across Kazakhstan and the whole region, the issue (of domestic violence) was shrouded in silence. Raising the issue is already half the solution,” he said.

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