ZURICH, Switzerland (LifeSiteNews) — Swiss prosecutors have charged leftist politician Sanija Ameti with “disturbing religious freedom” for posting since-deleted pictures of herself firing several shots from an air gun at a poster of Our Lady and the baby Jesus last year.
The Zurich public prosecutor’s office indicted Ameti, who serves on the city’s council, on July 21 with “disturbing religious freedom,” a violation of Article 261 of the Swiss Criminal Code. In September 2024, Ameti, a member of the Green-Liberal Party (GLP), posted photos on Instagram of herself firing shots from an air gun at a poster of the 14th-century Madonna and Child painting, which shows Our Lady holding Jesus Christ as an infant.
The 33-year-old Ameti, who was born in Bosnia to Muslim parents, faces fines totaling 12,500 Swiss francs ($15,600 U.S. dollars) and two years of probation.
The councilor had shared a photo of herself in the shooting position and even used the word “unwind,” in the post implying that shooting the sacred image helped her to relax.
After facing outrage over her blasphemous actions, Ameti deleted the post and posted an apology stating: “As a template for the 10-meter shooting range, I needed motifs that were visible enough. I only had the Koller catalog to hand, which was big enough. I didn’t pay attention to the content of the pictures. That wasn’t right. I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart if I offended anyone!”
However, Ameti specifically shot the faces of Our Lady and Jesus, who are clearly depicted as a mother and baby, 20 times per the indictment, making it unlikely she didn’t realize what the image depicted.
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The president of the GLP party, Jürg Grossen, also didn’t buy that Ameti was unaware of what she was doing, and condemned her actions.
“This behavior by Sanjia Ameti is unacceptable. It was a deliberate provocation,” he said.
Ameti has since resigned not only from her leadership position in the GLP Canton of Zurich but also from the party itself, after facing expulsion proceedings. She also lost her job as a consultant at the Swiss PR agency Farner.
Ameti remains an independent Zurich City Councilor and the co-president of Operation Libero, a left-wing political movement. Operation Libero was the only organization to defend her amid backlash, writing that it values Ameti as “a politician, co-president, and friend” but noted that her actions were “wrong and inappropriate.”
