Belarus is not a country that has attracted a lot of attention from the international media of late, but the regime of dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues to repress Belarusians in many ways, some of them unheard of since Soviet totalitarianism. In March, Lukashenka signed a bill that introduces capital punishment for state officials and military personnel who are found guilty of committing acts of high treason. Belarus is the only country in Europe that has not banned capital punishment. The new law is part of a series of changes to the criminal code that aim to bolster Belarus’ efforts to combat “crimes of an extremist [terrorist] and anti-state orientation.” The bill, supposedly, was a follow-up of the attack on a Russian warplane, allegedly made by Belarusian guerrillas. In February 2023, Belarusian activists claimed that they deliberately inflicted significant harm on a Russian surveillance aircraft when it was stationed on an airfield, possibly employed in monitoring Ukraine, through an act of sabotage within Belarus. Neither Minsk nor Moscow has reacted so far. However, apart from threatening capital punishment, the regime has a number of other ways to punish Belarusians for any kind of protest. Some of these are specific to the Belarusian dictatorship. For instance, every Belarusian know the phrase “home-based chemistry.” The term, as Politzek wrote, was used in the USSR, when being sent to work in the chemical industry was a common punishment. As Mediazona explained, home-based chemistry is a form of punishment in which a convicted individual is not imprisoned but subjected to restrictions. When used in the USSR, the person would usually end up in the chemical industry, but this is not the case anymore. The individual is given a set schedule for work and personal activities, which includes mundane tasks such as going to the store or taking out the trash. To ensure compliance, law enforcement officers may conduct unannounced checks at any time of the day. There are two types of such punishment. One is when a person stays at home but has to follow strict regime, rules and schedule, report about it and work according to it. Another is when a person is sent to some difficult remote place of work for a period of time, and has to live and work there. Belsat media described the life of one of such convict, former IT-sector professional. He was not given a choice to continue working at his former office, and was instead sent to a farming collective. He said in an interview with Belsat: We had to work a minimum of 80 hours per week, and sometimes even more for those considered “political’ prisoners. Our schedule could stretch up to eight consecutive days, starting from 5:00 in the morning until 17:30 in the evening. It was documented officially in our report card, which is a form of slavery. Moreover, working with waste products from animals such as pigs and cows is hazardous to one's health. People working in such conditions experience rapid physical deterioration. Mediazona has also interviewed some of the people whose punishment for political dissent was home-based chemistry. Ekaterina was allowed to continue working at her workplace. However, she had to report her work schedule to a police inspector. The latter could also demand a report from her employer that detailed her work schedule and the number of hours worked. She was allowed to travel to and from work within allocated time, and any free time she had was regulated by the inspector. Ekaterina told Mediazona: On weekday mornings, I have a 40-minute window to commute to work. In the evening, I have another 40 minutes to return home, followed by a two-hour allowance for personal tasks like shopping or attending to household matters. While I haven't been checked at work, it's a possibility. My employer submits a weekly schedule of my working hours, which the inspector can use to verify if I was present on a given day. The website Politzek Times (“politzek” means political prisoners), was created by activists from Belarus to record stories of those tortured by the regime. They published a story about another type of imprisonment that the regime allegedly uses — so-called therapeutic and labor dispensaries. Politzek interviewed one of such convicts, Vitaly. Because he made a derogatory remark about Lukashenka, Vitaliy was sentenced and consigned to a therapeutic and labor dispensary. Vitaly said that these dispensaries, which are usually used to detain individuals who have violated drug or alcohol-related public orders, are also now used as punishment for political dissent in Belarus.