One of them is Armenia’s largest cement plant located in the southern town of Ararat. Pashinian said his government will nationalize the plant when he campaigned for the June 7 parliamentary elections in which Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) was one of the main opposition contenders. He has since repeatedly pledged to imprison and “dispossess” Tsarukian as well as the leaders of two other key opposition groups.

The Office of the Prosecutor-General announced on Thursday that a court in Yerevan has agreed to place the plant under the government’s “management and maintenance” pending a verdict on prosecutors’ demand to confiscate Tsarukian’s assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The office claimed earlier, following Pashinian’s pre-election pledge, that it had been illegally privatized in 2002.

Pashinian seemed confident that the court will allow the asset forfeiture when he said last week: “Ararat Cement will be state-owned very soon.”

One of Tsarukian’s lawyers, Yerem Sargsian, noted that the court did not even bother to notify him and his colleagues about the injunction. He said this only proves that it acted on government orders.

Meanwhile, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinian told Factor.am that the municipal administration has taken over Multi Wellness, Tsarukian’s large fitness center located in the city center. He cited the municipality’s decision last month to unilaterally rescind a long-term lease agreement on land occupied by the center. A spokeswoman for Tsarukian on June 19 described the decision as illegal and said will be challenged in court.

Law-enforcement authorities searched and sealed off the offices of Ararat Cement, Multi Wellness and dozens of other firms making up Tsarukian’s Multi Group conglomerate when they arrested the BHK leader on July 6. Only the cement plant has since been allowed to resume its operations. Thousands of people working for the other Multi Group entities remain out of work.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee, which plays the central role in the criminal proceedings, did not give a clear reason for the shutdowns in written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service sent on Thursday. Nor did it say when it will allow those companies to reopen.

Tsarukian was demonstratively arrested on fraud charges that are unrelated to their activities. His representatives as well as other government critics portray Pashinian’s statements as further proof that that the post-election crackdown is politically motivated.

Dozens of other Armenian opposition leaders, members and supporters have also been arrested in recent months, facing various charges denied by them. The arrests continued even after the disputed elections.

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