Opposition Youth: 335 Days Jailed on a False Accusation
Beyker Ferreti, 23, was accused of firing the shot that killed a year-old child, in a tragic incident that took place during the 2018 protests. The baby’s father has declared that the only one responsible for the death of his son is the “Nicaraguan government.”
HAVANA TIMES – Beyker Enrique Ferreti Hernández, 23 years old, has now marked 335 days in the cells of Nicaragua’s “Jorge Navarro” Penitentiary, commonly known as La Modelo. He was arrested on October 20, 2022, and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of Teyler Lorío Navarrete, a toddler killed by a stray bullet in Managua, amidst the violent government repression of the 2018 protests.
Ferreti Hernández was accused of the murder of the 14-month-old minor, killed while in his father’s arms on June 23, 2018, when a bullet from an AKA rifle struck his head. The minor’s father, Nelson Lorío, who was holding Teylor when he died, maintains that the sole party responsible for his son’s death is the Nicaraguan government. “I come to testify that young Beyker Ferreti, whom the genocidal guard is formally accusing of the death of my son, was not present the day an armed paramilitary shot my son,” he asserted.
Ferreti, an opponent of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, is considered a political prisoner. Nelson Lorío has stated that they both participated in the demonstrations in District Seven, Managua. Ferreti was later detained in Honduras, where he had fled with his family in an attempt to reach exile in the United States.
In May 2023, four Nicaraguan Appeals Court Magistrates who serve the Ortega regime ratified the sentence against this political prisoner: Angela Navarrete, Rosa Argentina Solís and Octavio Ernesto Rothschuh.
Witnesses were members of the paramilitary
As has happened in previous trials of those opposing the Ortega regime, the witnesses presented by the prosecution were three members of the paramilitary: Wilber Ríos, Hernaldo Salinas, and Ramon Cardenas. These were the same three who Nelson Lorio claims formed part of the shock troops the regime armed and recruited in 2018 to quell the protests, along with other government employees.
“Their testimonies are invalid, because those who are going to testify have no moral authority in this case. The only witnesses on the scene are us, the baby’s parents,” declared the victim’s father.
Lorio indicated that in the case presented in 2022, the report states that the child’s death was immediate. “I want to note that in the accusation they state that my son died instantly. Not at all – we ran to the Americas tres neighborhood because we could see that the child was fighting for his life. He even reached the German-Nicaraguan Hospital still having seizures and fighting for his life.” Nelson Lorio added that he also ran to protect his daughter’s life and that these events were captured on a video that the authorities wanted to twist and utilize as evidence.
Attorney Yonarqui Martinez added that this case should have been closed according to the provisions of the government’s controversial 2019 Amnesty Law.
Nelson Lorio has said that he doesn’t want any continued mention of Ferreti as the one involved in the death of his son, and that the family continues waiting for the international community and the human rights organizations to “put Ortega on trial” for the death of his son.
Lorio, his wife and his 10 year old daughter fled to the United States in 2021, where they’ve requested asylum due to the “hounding, harassment, threats and lack of justice” in his native Nicaragua.