Swiss Muslim politician Sanija Ameti, from the Green Party, sparked controversy after she posted photos of herself on Instagram shooting a large picture of Mary and Baby Jesus.
Ameti is a leading Swiss politician and was the co-chair of the liberal movement Operation Libero.
She stepped down from the party leadership after the tasteless Instagram post.
Since the uproar Sanija has made her Instagram account private.
In the now removed post, Ameti had published two pictures. The first depicted her aiming a gun, accompanied by the words ‘Abschalten’ (German for ‘turn off’ or ‘detach’). However, the content that really triggered the storm was the second shot, which showed the target of the shot: a sacred image of the Madonna and Child, which was part of an art catalogue.
Decripto reported:
According to his own statements, the choice of the image as a target had no religious or provocative intentions. “I needed a visible image for the 10-metre shot,” Ameti explained. “I did not pay attention to the content of the images. This was a mistake, and I am deeply sorry if anyone was offended.”
Public apology: ‘An error of impulsiveness’
Immediately after publication, and after being contacted by the Blick newspaper for comment, the politician removed the post and posted an apology on her social channels. “What I did was absolutely stupid,” Ameti said, stressing that she had not thought through the possible consequences. “I sincerely apologise to all the people who felt hurt by my action.”
SWITZERLAND
Muslim Green Party politician Sanija Ameti has uploaded a photo to social media that shows her shooting images of Jesus and Mary pic.twitter.com/2RxX9XOxbN
— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) September 8, 2024
Conservative politician has filed charges against Ameti in Zurich.
The Young SVP Switzerland (JSVP) is shocked by an action by GLP politician Sanjia Ameti. The Zurich city councilor and president of Operation Libero published an Instagram story at the weekend in which she shot several times at an image of Mary and Jesus.
“In doing so, Ameti is making an inexcusable mockery of our Christian-Western culture,” said the Young SVP in a press release. The party, or rather its president Nils Fiechter and general secretary Stephanie Gartenmann, have therefore filed a criminal complaint against the politician. According to the news agency Keystone-SDA, Mass-Voll founder Nicolas Rimoldi has also announced that he will file a complaint.
“Millions of Christians disturbed”
The JSVP argues that Ameti’s posts have disturbed millions of Christians in their freedom of belief and worship, which is a violation of Article 261 of the Criminal Code. The criminal complaint was filed with the Governor’s Office of the Canton of Zurich, as Zurich is the politician’s place of residence.
Disclose TV reported that Sanija has stepped down from part leadership.
JUST IN – Swiss green liberal politician Sanija Ameti resigns from party leadership after shooting the image of Mary and baby Jesus — Blick pic.twitter.com/nTwa2C27xD
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 9, 2024
