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10 Reasons to vote Die Linke

European Election Programme of Die Linke (short version)


01/05/2024

The European elections will be held on June 9th. Die Linke is campaigning for a socially just European Union and for the fair redistribution of wealth in Europe. We are fighting for climate justice and climate protection and for peace. The government and the Right are calling for more armament, stronger militaries, and higher walls around Europe. The concerns of the people are seldom represented; the ‘everyday’ is no longer possible. Those who have enough concerns of their own are burdened with the costs of transitioning to green energy. Our vision for Europe looks different: we stand for greater collective welbeing, more fairness, more equality; for hospitals and care facilities not traded on the European stock exchange; for functioning public transport at no cost to its passengers; for a railway that connects Europe. And that all may profit from Europe’s vast wealth. This is possible. Together we are strong—stronger than the Right, who use the poor and refugees as their scapegoats. Stronger than the lobbies that put corporate interests and armament first. That is why we ask for your vote.

1. Protect the climate—not corporate profits

Climate disaster threatens the survival of our children on our planet. The wealthier someone is, the more CO2 emissions they produce. 100 corporations are responsible for an inordinate share of all CO2 emissions. The federal government has failed to get a handle on these largest instigators of climate change. Companies receive state funding for making the switch to climate-friendly production. All the same, the subsequent profits and dividends land in private wallets.

CO2 prices—petty change for the mega rich—most affect those who already struggle to make ends meet.

Die Linke demands clear specifications and rules for companies and real alternatives for the people. We are fighting for a green transition with public energy producers and socially scaled pricing—for climate friendly economic restructuring that generates secure employment with good wages. To redistribute the burden of CO2 costs, we demand socioeconomically minded climate funds that will especially support those with low and middle incomes.

2. Living wages—not survival wages

Corporate profits are through the roof. Wages are not. Rent, groceries, gas, electricity, and heating costs are exploding. Many can no longer stretch their pay to the end of the month. More than 100 million people in Europe work for low pay as adjusted for the wages of their country. This is the case for one in six full-time employees in Germany—in the former East, that number is as high as one in three.

Companies exploit the low wages of other EU states for profit. The EU is against poverty wages and stipulates that as many workers as possible be protected by collective labour agreements. In Germany, less than half of workers enjoy such protections. Still, the German government does nothing. In Germany the federal minimum wage must be raised to 14.14 euros. Die Linke says: round up to 15!

Workplace pressure builds, a mountain of unpaid overtime grows. Die Linke is fighting for work that fits life in the form of a 4-day or 30 hour week with full pay and more employees.

3. Finding safety

It is not refugees who threaten our welfare, but the mega rich who hide their wealth in tax havens. We want an end to the fatality on EU borders and that no one is left to drown. International maritime law enshrines an obligation to at-sea rescue; something we wish to organise publicly, reliably and legally. Chaos on the borders is a political failure. Asylum procedures compatible with international law and human rights are essential. The costs must be equitably distributed within the EU. Municipalities that take in refugees must be granted additional funds.

4. Abolishing poverty

More than 120 million people are in danger of poverty—including one in four children in Europe. Poverty does not look the same everywhere. Retirees collect bottles, families cannot afford vacations. Children go to school without breakfast. Others live on the streets. Many affected by poverty provide wealthier nations with cheap labour, for example as agricultural workers or 24-hour-care nurses.

Poverty is always a failure of the government. The EU must see that a social security net is provided to all member states—welfare and federal minimum wages must reliably protect from poverty. We demand that in Germany that no pension or welfare payments fall below 1,200 euros per month. Social security is prerequisite to a life in dignity. If corporations and the wealthy are held accountable, this is affordable. We stand for good social security benefits and against the need for them to be collected—because wages and pensions are sufficient for a good life, because public services are free, and because shelter and power are affordable.

5. No profits at the cost of health

Long waits for a doctor’s appointment, cancer surgery, in the emergency room; nursing staff are overworked and leave the branch exhausted—these are everyday phenomenon in Germany. The poor are more likely to suffer from chronic illness and to die earlier. This is true in Germany and across Europe.

Die Linke is fighting for better care for all, regardless of income. Other European countries invest more in healthcare, have more nursing staff per patient, and pay them better. This benefits the employed and their patients.

Die Linke aims to orient nursing and healthcare around communal wellbeing and according to need—rather than European competition rules. Hospitals and care homes should not be allowed to pass profits on to investors. Supplementary funds must be directed back into healthcare and nursing. The EU should set aside funds and assist municipalities in turning private hospitals over to public control.

6. Strengthening that which holds humanity and society together

Classrooms are too full. If a teacher is sick, lessons are cancelled. A free spot in a daycare is difficult to come by. Childcare workers are at their limits. The old apartment has long been too small for the family—there is no affordable, suitable housing. Functioning public transport and railways, or a public library and youth centre? In many areas, the suggestion sounds utopian. Good public services are the glue that holds humankind and society together, or not. Those who can afford to send their children to private schools and purchase homes, do. The EU is pushing for privatisation and public services are at the behest of the market. This leaves traces everywhere in the EU and in our daily lives—private equals costly. Die Linke wants to remove priority for privatisation and profit orientation from EU accords. We are fighting for good public services with enough staff; for enough affordable housing. For education and childcare free of charge. For healthcare organised publicly and not for profit.

7. Wealth to benefit all

Half of Europe’s wealth is in the possession of its richest 1%. The COVID-19 pandemic, war, and crisis have meant less money and more worries for many. The wealth of the richest has grown significantly. Why? Because many countries—such as Germany—lowered taxes for the wealthy; because the prices of rent, power, and groceries have been driven up, and the government is funnelling huge sums of money into armament. This makes corporate owners and shareholders rich. Class sizes could shrink, public transport could be cheaper, and there could be more daycare spaces if a wealth tax was reintroduced in Germany.

Inequality between the top and bottom is growing, as does the inequality between EU member states. This is bad for the people, for cohesion in the EU, and for democracy. We want to raise taxes on corporate profits and the wealth and inheritances of the mega rich throughout the EU. We demand a wealth tax starting at assets of 1 million euros (debts subtracted) in Germany. Assets over 1 billion euros will be taxed at 12%; no one needs more than 999 million euros.

8. Free public transport—not private jets

Well connected public transport, free and for all: beneficial to us, our cities and the environment. We want to expand public transport throughout the EU and make it available free of charge. More transit lines, accessibility, higher frequency service, better connection for rural areas and improved working conditions will require investment in the billions; then, public transport will pose a real alternative to car travel and all would be mobile. Through a well-functioning railway system, we can bring Europe closer together and expand daily commuter routes.

With better track networks, modern coaches, and comfortable night trains, Die Linke wants to make rail the most important form of transportation in Europe—for an affordable price. This way, train travel will be a real alternative to flying. Socially just climate protection means stopping the excesses of the mega rich. We want superyachts and private jets banned in the EU and to abolish tax breaks for aviation fuel.

9. Cap profits, close tax havens

Shell, Lidl, Aldi, and other corporations raised prices during the war and energy crisis. Necessities have increased in cost by one third; energy costs by one half. Excessive pricing has been cushioned with tax money. Taxpayers were left in the cold all the same. Inflation is no force of nature. Price increases tell us that we must pay more while corporate profits increase. Die Linke wants to prevent profiteering from crises. This is possible—if excessive profits are taxed away, raising prices loses its attractiveness. We demand a 90% excess profit tax in the EU on all surplus profits. Electricity and gas prices cannot be left to the market. We want socially-scaled pricing. International corporate giants pay an average of just 19% taxes, while the neighbourhood baker pays around 30%. We want to put a stop to tax havens and tax evasion, through which 835 billion euros escape the EU every year. We want standardised minimum tax rates for Europe’s large companies.

10. Investment in peace—not war

Putin’s criminal war of aggression in the Ukraine has shocked many. The EU has obligated member states to invest more money in armament. The German government quickly set aside 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr. The result for some: extra arms-industry profits, with stock values increasing tenfold. For the rest of us: pension cuts, child poverty, care sector and housing crises. As the armament budget goes up, basic child welfare has been abolished. Now, discussions of implementing ground forces and the use of atomic weapons are being held. Escalation and dying carry on. Reliance on escalation brings with it the risk of a world war.

Die Linke wants to outlaw war as a political tool. Negotiations for ceasefire and peace are needed over more arms shipments. We want to ban atomic weapons. If economic lobby representatives propose that we must choose between ‘guns and butter’, then we say, ‘Butter for all!’ Stop the arms race!

Translation: Shav MacKay, reproduced with permission

Two Brazils

The case for Marielle Franco and the subterranean left


30/04/2024

In the samba city, touristic point where people from all types of places come to lose their belongings, have a beer at the Lapa, see the beaches and the football, we seldom take a moment to reflect if there was ever peace in this land. A renowned Brazilian film, though controversial, makes an attempt at portraying organized crime and the public security in Rio de Janeiro: of course we are talking about Elite Squad.

The first of two films shows the police brutality, the corruption among the lower ranks militaries and the impunity granted to drug trafficking. The film got many negative reviews for supposedly glorifying the “honest” yet sociopath officer despite all the corrupt and complacent ones. As a reckoning, Elite Squad 2 portrayed the structural logic of public security that makes fighting crime a low priority while opening doors for law enforcement officers to act as militias exploiting the “free of crime” communities.

Gas, light, internet, loan sharking, rents, everything would go through the militias. They were backed by politicians that described them as “polícia mineira” (a slang that even the city mayor has used to refer to the parallel police that do the dirty work) as a solution for the security of the communities and as counterpoint to drug trafficking. The reality, however, is that in many places the militia supplements its profits by “outsourcing” drug trafficking, allowing allied groups (Amigos dos Amigos e Terceiro Comando Puro) to sell drugs in exchange for a percentage of the revenue.

The militias appear in the beginning of the 2000’s, while the Comando Vermelho dates from the military dictatorship (1964-1985), when common and political prisoners organized in Rio de Janeiro to form the now second biggest Brazilian criminal faction, losing only to the São Paulo’s PCC. Nevertheless, activists and researchers show that selective police operations open space for paramilitary forces to fill the vacuum of criminal organizations in such a way that the militias are connected to the state machine itself.

https://geni.uff.br/2022/09/13/mapa-historico-dos-grupos-armados-no-rio-de-janeiro/ [criminal groups represented in Rio’s capital. In red, the “Comando Vermelho”, the most powerfull group who was led by Fernandinho Beira-Mar, actually in prison. In blue the militias, mostly in the West Zone, where the majority of the population lives and where Jair Bolsonaro received most of his votes in the Rio de Janeiro.]
Public opinion has turned against the militias, seeing them as criminal organizations, especially in the case of a “Parliamentary Comission of Enquiry” (the Brazilian correspondent of a Parliamentary investigation committee) established in 2008. By then, however, it was too late. Today, after 16 years operating, the militia continues to spread their Icarus’ wings, and only now it seems that the sun has come to stop its flight. Ronnie Lessa, arrested in 2023 for participating in the murder of Marielle Franco, took a step forward to denounce those who he claims to be the masterminds of the plot, after discovering that his former partner Élcio Queiroz had a plea bargain. Lessas’ declarations were the grounds for the simultaneous arrests of Rivaldo Barbosa and the brothers Chiquinho Brazão and Domingos Brazão by the Brazilian Federal Police. Chiquinho is still a federal deputy and Domingos is an employee at the Tribunal de Contas do Estado (State Court of Accounts). The first had a direct clash with Marielle when a proposal regarding urban subdivision was up for debate. Marielle wanted the area to be used for public housing, while Chiquinho wanted to regulate the land so it could be later targeted by real estate speculation. The region was strategic for the militias, and they would have been the main beneficiary of the leasing of the housing projects. Aware of the consequences of the project, Marielle and all her party were against it. It is important to emphasize that Marielle was a personal friend and a member of the same party of Marcelo Freixo, who had led the Parliamentary Commission that investigated the militias in 2008.

In the press it is speculated that one infiltrator hired by the Brazão brothers overestimated Marielle’s political potential, so she became the preferential target of the attack. The simplest reason to understand this is the disproportionate difference in relevance between the councillor and her political godfather, Marcelo Freixo. Ever since he led the Parliamentary Commission, he has not stopped having personal security, as he is still the target of threats. Besides that, it was Marielle who personally investigated the Federal Intervention at Rio de Janeiro in 2018. Rivaldo Barbosa would have demanded, according to Lessa’s denunciations, that Marielle’s murder should not take place in the vicinity of the Council Chamber, for otherwise it would have been impossible to cover up the case. It would come as no surprise to find out that the transversal interests of the militias and public power had converged in a young politician to communicate their bloody message.

The reason for the killing seems to clarify now, or better put, to open space for new questions and a militant reflection. What would have been the fuse for the killing?

Inside the institutional and identitarian left, it was common to say that the Blackness of the councillor was an essential mark to determine the choice of her killing. Despite having an underlying truth to it, and the fact that Marielle indeed had ascended politically because of her militancy with mostly Black poor people, Lessa’s denunciation points directly to her influence over a matter of territorial dispute. Whether or not we agree with this underlying truth, it seems that Marielle’s assassination had less to do with the individual, and more with the ideology she defended – and the people with which she was dealing.

The militia hypothesis

In order to finance its activities and attract those officers who believe, with the best of intentions, that they are improving the city, killing the ones who are in the way, it is crucial that the militia agents don’t rely solely on the negligence of public power and punctual agreements with the community leaderships – they need to develop their own means of funding. Usually it is through the re-sale of gas canisters, water supplies, and internet and cable tv, besides rents. The militia establish its prices and hold the monopoly over their provision, so that no doubt is left about the success of their enterprise. It is true that favelas are not just residential areas; there are also many small businesses in the region, but this is only possible if the militia considers that the fees it can charge from such businesses surpass the profit of running the business itself.

Therefore, the militias have the same exact mechanism of social control from the criminal factions, which exert totalitarian control over the right to come and go and freedom of speech, besides constant exploitation. For the social movements that survived the dictatorship on a national scale, the paramilitary groups hold a cruel resemblance of militant impotence.

The discussion about the regulation of the urban areas in Jacarepaguá that involved both Marielle and the Brazão Brothers seems to relate directly to the expansion of the parastatal control in the West Zone where it’s particularly difficult for militants to intervene politically. In the first place, this expansion makes urban occupations (squats) impracticable. The militia already uses many strategies of extortion against public housing complexes. In businesses where the boss is together with the militia, it is impossible to recur to the labour justice for any matter of working conditions, or even to pressure to improve them, as the workers are subjected to the risk of a “visit” from the crime’s executioners. An interesting example was shown in an article that reports the pressure of militias and drug dealers upon delivery workers not to strike in São Paulo and Rio.

In 2023 it was ordered to set 35 buses on fire in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro as retaliation for the death of the son of “Zinho” – leadership known by the police and involved in diverse assassinations. This serves as proof that the militias threaten the stability of urban flow itself, blocking the struggle for ending public transportation fees.

In the few last years the militia hypothesis has not seemed exaggerated. A revealing coincidence is the apparent connection between the family of the former President Jair Bolsonaro and the militia, though this was never clarified. Ronni Lessa was a neighbor of the Bolsonaros and, according to the former president, the daughter of the militia member used to date his youngest son, Renan Bolsonaro. Adriano da Nóbrega was visited by Jair and Flávio Bolsonaro (the son of Jair, also in politics) at least two times when he was incarcerated. Bolsonaro supposedly met Lessa in the day before the murder of Marielle. Élcio de Queiroz, who is also involved in the killing of the councilwoman, has pictures with Jair supporting his first presidential campaign in 2018 (he would later be elected). 117 rifles were confiscated with a friend of Lessa in a mansion in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, where the Bolsonaro family lives.

As of today, Bolsonaro is ineligible. However, he still holds significant political capital and direct or indirect influence over the elections in every state of Brazil. If the command of the Federal Police had not been changed, and the government had not been once again taken by the democratic center-left, maybe we would not have the information we now have about the assassination of Marielle Franco in 2018. Maybe we wouldn’t even remember the relevance of names like Brazão and Rivaldo. The “urban militianism” (term used by researchers on the militias in Rio) unfortunately does not give signs of being in its last days, despite the growing expansion of the Comando Vermelho, partly explained by the intense change in commands in the last two years.

The social struggles also haven’t ended, and in face of the apparent weakening of the militias and in face of the less “Bolsonarists” institutions, it is possible that the next two years will be of a new upheaval of urban struggles and social victories. As long as the left comprehends the obstacles it has ahead and reflects about the field of action.

Germany is proudly complicit in the genocide in Gaza

The German state is actively and conspicuously incriminating itself as an accessory to genocide.


The international repercussions of the banning of the Palestine Congress to be held in Berlin from 12 to 14 April 2024, as well as the reports of the detention on arrival and subsequent expulsion from the country of the rector of the University of Glasgow, Dr. Ghasam Abu Sitta, the banning of the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, from any political activity, present or via zoom, for their participation in the said congress, have tarnished Germany’s image as a democratic country; one that had putatively left its Nazi past behind and exemplarily contained the arrival of the extreme right with an all-party pact.

Germany, in a desperate rush forward, instead of calmly coming to its senses and backtracking on its repression of pro-Palestinian solidarity, has intensified its attacks on pro-Palestinian activists in the streets, institutions, and in the media the week after the congress was banned. This same week, public television ZDF has broadcast two reports in which it has pointed out, by name and surname, photos, videos and Instagram accounts, well-known Palestinian activists in Berlin whom it links, without evidence, to jihadist terrorism. Since the broadcast of these prime-time reports, some of these activists have received threats. Despite the worrying problem of widespread Islamophobia in society, a violent far-right which has already committed multiple murders, German public broadcasters singled out activists with their full names.

Despite polls showing that 50% of German society finds Israel’s actions disproportionate, white Germans are conspicuous by their absence from demonstrations and actions against genocide.

This can only be understood as an escalation, and a call for the externalisation to society in general, and to the armed and violent extreme right in particular, of the repression of the anti-genocide movement. With these xenophobic reports they seem to want to fuel the Islamophobic fire and encourage fear of terrorist attacks committed by German citizens with migrant origins, and thus giving carte blanche to the expulsion policies proposed by the current supposedly moderate coalition government.

Germany simply does not want its complicity in the genocide in Gaza to be discussed publicly. Neither the government nor white German civil society wants to acknowledge that Germany is once again actively involved in another genocide. Despite polls showing that 50% of German society finds Israel’s actions disproportionate, white Germans are conspicuous by their absence from demonstrations and actions against genocide.

And yet it is their country that is the second largest exporter of arms to Israel, a business that has increased tenfold since 7 October. It is their country that immediately jumped to Israel’s defence in the genocide trial brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In a twist that can only happen in Germany, they did this on the very same day that the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century, committed by Germany against the Herero and Nama peoples in its former colony of Namibia, were being commemorated. It is their country which, one day after the court ordered interim measures against Israel for the prevention of genocide, without any proof withdrew humanitarian aid to UNWRA for the Gaza Strip in its entirety. It is their country that on the 5th of April voted No to the arms embargo proposed in the UN Counsel. It is their country that has already had 3 different lawsuits filed in its own courts by Palestinian-German citizens for their complicity in genocide. It is their country that multiple politicians and journalists are facing civil lawsuits filed by Palästina Spricht for incitement to genocide. And it is their country that has had to defend itself in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against accusations of complicity in genocide in a lawsuit brought by Nicaragua for the actions described above.

The question now is, if the information leaked a few days ago, which is now being reported in the Israeli press, that the International Criminal Court in The Hague is going to issue arrest warrants for Nethanyahu and members of his cabinet for crimes against humanity and if, as is highly likely, Israel is found guilty of committing genocide by the International Court of Justice, what will Germany and the Germans say? Perhaps that they did not know? They already used that excuse with the genocides against Jews and the Roma people in World War II and this time it doesn’t hold water.

Criminal News From My Bed

Does the state being on the side of the criminal make the criminal a saint?


29/04/2024

First of all, I want make one thing clear – I am a writer, not a journalist. That’s why I won’t write the names of either the killer or the victim. Moreover, in the best psycoanalytic tradition, this story is a mix of sex and dreams. If you want to know more about what happened, you can find the original story on the Internet using the following query: “перерезал подростку горло в Киеве” (“teenager’s throat cut in Kyiv”).

I can only guess how many people were in the apartment. There were 3 rooms and in each one someone was having sex. Lights off. I was in the kitchen, where 5 pairs of hands touched me. Suddenly I heard the rhythmic sound of a table hitting the wall. I heard a voice. This voice whispered: “Good boy. You’re such a good boy.” And at the same time this voice hit the good boy’s ears.

For some reason I fixated on this. So fixated that the same night I dreamt that I made love to myself. That is to say, in a dream I saw 2 people, and both of them were me. Gentle touches. Smiles. A room illuminated with red light; probably what a mother’s belly looks like from the inside on a sunny day. But suddenly I start to choke myself, and in the process, somehow, I’m giving me compliments. Yes, there is something strange about it.

It’s one thing to choke someone during sex and say nasty things. There is nothing unusual about that. But compliments while choking scare me. It is also interesting that this dream occurs in a place reminiscent of a mother’s womb. As you know, if a dad’s love must be earned, then a mother’s love is given unconditionally.

I imagine a woman who beats her son because he painted on her passport while in immigration. Now she’s angry. She hits him, and she immediately becomes ashamed and offended. Then his mom praises him for his beautiful drawing. The kid just wants to go back to his hometown, so he drew a house and a meadow right next to the stamp about entry into the Schengen zone. But now the passport is considered invalid. And she hits him again. And then she becomes ashamed and begins to praise him. Hits again. Praise. And this has been happening for years.

And when the kid grows up, he comes to a 3-room apartment. He comes to a place where people have gathered to love each other. But he begins to beat the one who brings him the most pleasure, hiding behind a fetish. When one person behaves this way, it’s one thing. But it’s an entirely different matter when an entire country behaves the same damn way. Especially when the country tries to protect someone who has brought it grief. Tries to protect him only because the criminal said ideologically correct things. Said things that would please his scared mother.

Waking up from a womb-like sleep, I receive a message from my friend. The content makes me want to return to a place that resembles a mother’s belly from inside on a sunny day.

On April 7, 2024, in Kyiv, a drunk man attacked a group of teenagers. It happened in the city center – on the funicular. The funicular itself looks like it’s part of the metro, but with only 2 stations. Every day it lifts from 5 to 15 thousand people up the huge hill, which equals approximately 5 million passengers a year.

If you were afraid to buy a house where a murder took place, if you are avoiding a building in which a gas cylinder exploded, killing the owner, you definitely need to reconsider your views. There are too many people and we are dying everywhere. Every minute. And now in Kyiv, from 5 to 15 thousand people a day continue to ride the funicular, despite the fact that on April 7 a murder was committed there.

But first, the drunken man emotionally demonstrated his disgust with the teenagers. A drunk man asked why they did not defend their homeland. Approaching the tallest person in the company, he repeated the question. And the tall guy replied that, if necessary, he would defend himself. The drunk man said to get out and he would show him exactly how to defend the country.

A fight broke out. A drunk man smashed a window with a teenager’s head. He used a piece of glass to cut his throat. He tried to escape, but the teenager’s buddies stopped the murderer. The police arrived at the crime scene and detained a drunken man. They found a weapon on him. The teenager died on the steps near the funicular.

Such situations are a logical continuation of the policy that is being pursued in Ukraine today. There’s nothing wrong with loving your country, as long as it doesn’t become an obsession.

Below are comments on the news, some of which are no less surprising than the murder:

“I heard a different version. The teenagers were drunk. They turned on Russian music. And they reacted aggressively to the remark.”

“I’m sorry that one of the most popular comments is blaming the victim, the kid, for being killed. Nothing new.”

“The people have gone completely crazy. Even if they listened to Russian music and spoke Russian, then what? Kill everyone for this?”

“What is a fair punishment? If you took a kid’s life, give yours.”

“I have another question, regarding safety precautions: why was there no tempered glass in the funicular, like in cars? If it breaks, it crumbles into small pieces.”

“Why can a country allocate 3 healthy men to issue a summons, but cannot place at least one security guard at the station?”

“Now it has become dangerous in Kyiv. Especially in the center. I was walking with my buddy and witnessed how one psycho broke a girl’s nose right at the bus stop.”

“It’s sad that we have to ask for such a story to be spread on social networks.”

The murderer’s justification looks like to me this way. I imagine how a sadist from a 3-room apartment choked his partner to death. At the trial, his mom tries to defend him, not even suspecting that the murder began with her.

This piece is a part of  a series, The Mining Boy Notes, published on Mondays and authored by Ilya Kharkow, a writer from Ukraine. For more information about Ilya, see his website. You can support his work by buying him a coffee.

Saltanat Nukenova’s Murder Highlights Kazakhstan’s Femicides

Livestreams of the trial have meant that domestic violence can no longer be ignored


Former Minister of Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev is accused of killing his wife Saltanat Nukenova and he was put on trial. This high visibility exposure, brings the debate on domestic violence to the forefront of Kazakh society. Due in part to an online livestream of the trial the case has been widely discussed. It has opened conversations about what the law can do to protect victims of abuse, and to punish the perpetrators.

Saltanat Nukenova was murdered in November 2023 at a restaurant in Astana. Coroners found that her death was caused by brain trauma after being beaten. Bishimbayev is charged with torture and murder with extreme violence. His relative Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, who owned the restaurant that Saltanat was murdered in, is charged with failing to report the crime. Bishimbayev pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder, but admits he was involved in her death. 

The owner of the TikTok account @Justiceforsalta is dedicated to spreading the word about Saltanat’s case, and says “this whole trial unfortunately only emphasises the fact that in Kazakhstan, beating and killing women is not a serious offence.” Domestic violence and femicide occurs frequently in the country. Fully 17% of women with partners say they have experienced physical or sexual abuse. Only a minority of women facing abuse report it to the police. Most stay silent due to the stigma and shame attached to it, or because they know the case will not be taken seriously. 

Some believe Bishimbayev will not be fully punished even if he is sentenced guilty, due to his former position in the government. In 2017, he was arrested on charges of bribery and sentenced to 10 years in prison, yet he only served 3 of these. This points to endemic corruption within the Kazakh judiciary system, causing a distrust that further dissuades women from coming forward.

The trial has received widespread public attention in Kazakhstan, partly due to Bishimbayev’s former political career, and partly because it is one of the most prominent femicide cases in recent history. However, the case has received little coverage in the Western press. People across Kazakhstan are encouraging those in the West to share Saltanat’s story on social media. @Justiceforsalta says, “unfortunately at the moment we… can do nothing except to publicise this case”.

In 2017, domestic violence was decriminalised in Kazakhstan, making it punishable with fines. However, since Bishimbayev’s trial, a new bill has been passed making domestic violence a criminal offence rather than civil. The bill has also expanded definitions of violence against women and children, and lengthened punishments. It has been praised around the world, notably by the EU, and a UN representative for Kazakhstan.

Yet, @Justiceforsalta is not confident this new law will change deep-rooted attitudes, saying “our country will likely never take the mistreatment of women seriously”. She says, “I hope that in the future there will be fewer such killers and abusers and we will be able to walk down the street without fear that we will be killed”. This new bill is simultaneously the first step in the right direction, but a disgrace. Disgraceful that a young woman like Saltanat had to be brutally murdered for things to change.