Children Behind Bars

Travel agents advertise Latvia with slogans like 'the fresh wind of freedom' or 'a land full of optimism'. The young offenders that Danish photographer Christian Als met in the Young Offenders Institution in Cesis, however, are faced with an unfriendly wind and have little reason to be optimistic. 140 offenders aged between 14 and 21 are serving time under hard conditions. 14 year olds who are in for 4 years for theft are no rarity. For rape and murder the punishment is life under draconian conditions. For example, these offenders see the weekly bath as something to look forward to.