Amsterdam & Partners LLP Files UN Submission Challenging Detention of Fintech Executive

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amsterdam & Partners LLP today confirms that it has submitted a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Uktam Xasanov, CEO of fintech platform Solfy Uzbekistan, arguing that his arrest and continued detention violate both international law and Uzbekistan’s domestic legal obligations. Crucially, it is clear that the arrest and arbitrary detention of Mr. Xasanov was undertaken based entirely on a discriminatory assessment of his position as the local director of a foreign company, not any legitimate criminal evidence he had committed a crime. Mr. Xasanov, an Uzbek national, was arrested in March 2026 in connection with the ongoing dispute with National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NBU).

The submission, which raises serious doubts about the reliability of Uzbekistan as a destination for foreign direct investment, focused on both the lack of legal basis for the charges and the continued use of pre-trial detention, as well as highlighting the close familial relationship between the Chairman of NBU and the Deputy Prosecutor of Tashkent. The firm notes that an audit required under Uzbek law before the bringing of charges was only finalised after Mr. Xasanov had already been arrested, charged and detained for three days. The filing further explains that the audit itself did not substantiate the allegations against him.

The petition also addresses the poor conditions of Mr. Xasanov’s detention that are incompatible with both domestic law and international standards, particularly the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (i.e., the Nelson Mandela Rules). Nearly three months after his arrest, he has been denied any visits from family members despite repeated requests, is unable to communicate with family by telephone and is permitted only censored correspondence.

The filing further contends that the Tashkent court failed to genuinely and objectively consider less restrictive alternatives to detention despite domestic and international legal obligations requiring pre-trial detention to be imposed only when less restrictive measures are inadequate.

The petition additionally notes that Uzbek law provides specific protections for entrepreneurial activity and is intended to prevent ordinary commercial disagreements from becoming the basis for criminal prosecution. The firm therefore believes that the use of state administrative and criminal powers in a dispute involving a state-owned institution and an international investor is a violation of these protections.

The petition was filed shortly after the Tashkent International Investment Forum, during which Uzbekistan actively promoted itself as a safe and attractive destination for foreign investments. Yet at the very moment government officials were presenting this narrative to the international business community, Mr. Xasanov remained in pre-trial detention. The firm believes that his imprisonment has been used as leverage to get the upper hand in negotiations arising from the Solfy-NBU dispute. The fact that Uzbekistan can host a major international investment forum while a business executive involved in a dispute with a state-owned bank remains incarcerated under these circumstances is both inappropriate and deeply troubling.

Robert Amsterdam, Founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, which serves as international counsel Mr. Xasanov, states that:

“Discriminatory prosecution and detention using criminal law should never be used as leverage in a commercial dispute.

Mr. Xasanov has now spent months in detention despite the lack of legal basis for the charge against him, despite the availability of less restrictive alternatives under the law, and despite the fundamentally commercial nature of the underlying dispute.

His continued detention due to a dispute involving an international investor sends a fatal signal for Uzbekistan’s investment and human rights landscapes. Many believed that the practice of using state power to exert pressure in commercial conflicts had been left behind in Uzbekistan in the 1990s. Cases such as this indicate otherwise.

Mr. Xasanov must be released from pre-trial detention immediately as the law demands to ensure his physical safety and wellbeing, as well as to avoid a continuation in the escalation of this situation.”

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm specialising in political advocacy and human rights, based in London and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.amsterdamandpartners.com. Media enquiries may be directed to [e-mail].