Above the law: A murder in Kazakhstan

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  Hi, John Priddo here.

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  I host Checks and Balance, our weekly US politics podcast.

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  Instead, as his common-law wife lay dying,

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  he phoned a clairvoyant, who assured him, mistakenly, she would be fine.

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  Last year,

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  Sultanat Nukhaneva died of injuries inflicted by Mr. Bishimbayev in a fancy restaurant owned by his family in the country's glitzy capital,

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  Astana.

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  On May 13th, a court handed him a 24-year prison sentence.

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  Millions of Kazakhs had tuned in to the live-streamed trial which sparked anguished soul-searching over domestic violence and highlighted the sense of entitlement and impunity among Kazakhstan's rich and powerful.

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  Evidence in court included CCTV footage of Mr. Bishimbaev punching and kicking Ms. Nukeneva and dragging her by her hair.

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  The prosecution said he was brutally abusive.

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  The defence portrayed the deceased as an alcoholic who drove him to violence.

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  Kazakh women posted photos of themselves clutching drinks captioned,

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