Botakoz Kassymbekova is an assistant professor in modern history, specializing in Russian and Soviet history, at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
Members of the media gather in front of a screen showing a live courtroom broadcast during the preliminary hearing in the trial of Kazakh former economy minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who was charged with "particularly cruel murder" and "torture" for killing his wife, at a court in Astana on March 11.
