A shocking case of Kuandyk Bishimbayev

One of the survivors of the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway once said, “I hate that I am of one generation with Shoko Asahara (the head of the cult).” When I read this in Haruki Murakami’s book, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, I felt the same but for another reason. I am from the same generation as Bishimbayev.

If you have read international news recently, you might have heard about a murder trial in Kazakhstan. The name of the country may not remind readers of much beyond Borat’s satirical comedy, which played in theaters decades ago, still affecting the image of a country of 20 million. However, it’s a big, diverse country with a lot of potential, uniquely influenced by its demographics.

As a citizen, like many of my comrades, I was shocked by the details of the murder that reshaped the country by changing the law and overall perception of domestic violence. As a father of three, one of them a young lady, I watched the trial in awe because I was compelled by the story of the fall of a young woman.

Premise of the case:
Bishimbayev, a powerful Kazakh by nationality (which is important for the story), ex-convict, and ex-minister of national economy (my foreign friends were always amused by how we loved using ‘national’ in the name of every entity in the 2000s), killed his common-law wife after torturing her for hours.

After the fatal blows that sent his wife into a coma, he waited eight hours, watching her agony, while ensuring himself an alibi by meeting people in the next room, texting prostitutes, and ordering food. Only a miracle interrupted his plans of disposing of the body, as none other than Putin himself was supposed to dine in the facility with a dead woman present. Bishimbayev’s goon called an ambulance and imitated CPR while on the phone with the 911 operator.

The rest is well known, as the trial was aired for two months and gained a lot of attention not because of the case, but due to the extensive coverage within the country.

Aftermath:
Schools, universities, offices, stores, and shops were inoperable while the trial was broadcast. People who were not interested in the case were forced to see and read about it everywhere. The more details were revealed, the more outraged people became.

I actually met Bishimbayev personally. I worked for an engineering company, and we were bidding for a glass factory that was a brainchild of Bishimbayev involving American and then Chinese investors. Now, I salute the fact that we were not chosen, as everything this man touched became spoiled. He was later convicted of corruption and sentenced, then paroled by the president, which allowed him to commit another crime while he was supposed to be in prison serving his sentence.

Bishimbayev is my age, has four children, and studied in the US. He was the cream of the crop of Kazakh society. There are so many similarities on the surface with my path.

Yet, I was never corrupt like him. I have never worked as a politician. I was never a civil servant. That saved me from the filth of unlimited and uncontrolled power that he was given too early in his life and career.

We are part of one generation, and yet we are not equal. And yet, I see so many people with similar values as Bishimbayev.

The trial will certanly be put on a big screen. I will comtinue writing on this case in details. Stay tuned!