TBILISI -- Anti-government protesters took to the streets of Tbilisi on January 18, with many demonstrators wearing masks in defiance of new regulations banning face-coverings as authorities attempt to keep tabs on dissenters in the Caucasus nation.
Many of the masks featured images mocking billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s most powerful man and the founder of the Georgian Dream -- the party that has angered protesters with its perceived turn away from its once-growing Western ties and more toward Russia.
Meanwhile, former President Salome Zurabishvili -- who broke with the government during her term and sided with protesters -- told Fox News that the United States and Europe have a "stake" in defending Georgian democracy against both an "unconstitutional" government in Tbilisi and potential Russian interference.
Zurabishvili was in the United States to attend U.S. leader Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20.
She said she would urge Trump to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin, in any future call or meeting: "Hands off Georgia. Hands off the Caucasus."
SEE ALSO: The European Leaders Courting Trump's FavorOn December 29, Georgian Dream pushed through its candidate, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and right-wing populist, as the country's new president.
However, Zurabishvili, his predecessor, continues to call herself Georgia's "only legitimate president" and is recognized as president by Georgia’s opposition amid widespread claims the country’s recent parliamentary elections were not free and fair.
SEE ALSO: Two Presidents, A Country In Turmoil. What Next For Georgia?The January 18 pro-Europe rally in Georgia, involving several hundred people, marked the 52nd consecutive night of demonstrations in the capital and led to the arrest of at least six people.
Georgia's parliament passed a law on December 13 forbidding protesters from covering their faces and banning fireworks and lasers from demonstrations following weeks of clashes between security personnel and pro-Europe protesters.
Many rally participants have worn gas masks and face-coverings as defenses against police tear gas and water cannons and to avoid being identified by authorities, placing them in increased danger of arrest.
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What Georgian Protesters Think About Government Banning Masks At Rallies
Lawmakers also approved a move to raise fines for defacing buildings and blocking traffic after protesters blocked several key roads in the city near the parliament building and other government sites.
Some demonstrators have launched firecrackers at police and used lasers to disrupt security cameras.
The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
The rallies intensified after a government decision in November to delay negotiations on Georgia joining the European Union.
The authorities responded violently to the demonstrations, arresting hundreds of people and closely watching participants with Chinese-made surveillance cameras with facial-recognition capabilities.
Dozens of protesters – as well as journalists covering the rallies – have been beaten and detained by police were wearing riot gear or full-face black masks, with no identifiable insignia.
Western leaders and rights activists have condemned the Georgian government’s violent crackdown on protesters.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on December 24 called for Georgian security forces to be investigated for the “brutal police violence” against largely peaceful protesters who took to the streets for anti-government demonstrations.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Lawmakers Seek To Ban Recognition Of Georgian Government, Report Says“In widespread and apparently punitive acts, security forces have chased down, violently detained, and beat protesters. Police also tortured and otherwise ill-treated them in police vans and police stations,” HRW said in a report.
The Moscow-friendly Ivanishvili last month was sanctioned by the United States for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation."
"Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream's actions have eroded democratic institutions, enabled human rights abuses, and curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Georgia," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time.
Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels first became tense following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.
Zurabishvili and the tens of thousands of Georgians demonstrating in the streets have pushed for new parliamentary elections as the only way out of the current crisis.