Investigators sealed off dozens of kiosks and shops located inside the Arinj Mall without any explanation on Monday. The market, which is part of Tsarukian’s Multi Group conglomerate, has remained closed since then.
Hundreds of traders and other people working there demonstrated on Thursday to demand that the authorities allow the shops to reopen. Riot police were deployed to prevent them from blocking an adjacent road.
“They said, ‘Get out, you’re not working here anymore,’” one woman told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Where should I go with my two kids?”
“We have received no notifications,” said another trader. “What we request is that they reopen our shops so we can get back to normal work.”
Some of the protesters complained that they are not even allowed to retrieve their personal belongings from the sealed premises.
“My driving license is in there,” said one man. “So I can’t drive my car.”
Armenia’s Investigative Committee said later in the day that the shops and other “unauthorized structures” of the Arinj Mall were sealed off because they lie below high-voltage power lines and therefore pose a “threat to the life and health of citizens.” The protesters dismissed the explanation, pointing to ongoing construction at a nearby site also located under transmission lines.
The Armenian government’s construction and fire safety inspectorate told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service it that it was not involved in the closure in any way. It said it found safety violations at the Arinj Mall and briefly shut it down about two years ago. The market reopened its doors after quickly eliminating those violations, according to the agency.
Armenia - Supporters greet a handcuffed Gagik Tsarukian as he is escorted out of an Investigative Committee building in Yerevan, July 22, 2026.
The Investigative Committee similarly raided dozens of Multi Group companies and halted their operations during Tsarukian’s arrest on unrelated fraud charges on July 6. The law-enforcement agency has accused some of them of tax evasion but has still not clearly explained the closure of the others. Thousands of their employees remain out of work.
The Armenian government officially seized two of those companies, a cement plant and a large fitness center in Yerevan, last week. Tsarukian’s legal team and Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) denounced the move as illegal.
The BHK was one of the three main opposition groups that ran in the June 7 parliamentary elections. Pashinian has repeatedly pledged to jail and “dispossess” their top leaders. Tsarukian’s 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.