Sanija Ameti: GLP politician shoots at Jesus picture

The bullet holes are in the faces of Mary and the baby Jesus, there are perhaps 20 of them. The shot was fired by Sanija Ameti, the Green Liberal politician and co-president of Operation Libero. Ameti is a marksman, she shared the photo of the “target” on her Instagram account this week. Another photo shows her with a sports pistol at the ready. Ameti’s comment: “switch off”.

The 32-year-old has already sparked a number of controversies and has even been the target of hate campaigns herself. But with the “target” post, the 32-year-old has triggered a shitstorm that has taken on unusual proportions – and even reached the Russian propaganda channel RT.

But first things first. It begins with a “Blick” reporter asking Ameti whether she hurt the religious feelings of Christians or Muslims by shooting at the Jesus and Mary picture. Ameti then deletes the post.

And writes in an Instagram story: “Hello, I deleted the story because people might feel hurt in their religious feelings. As a template for the 10-meter shooting, 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 really sorry if I hurt anyone with that!”

Ameti apparently used a page of a catalogue from the Koller auction house as a target. In fact, Koller has a painting listedwhich corresponds to Ameti’s Insta post: “Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael”, dated 1375.

The lawyer soon followed up with a second apology in which she asked for “forgiveness”. She said she hadn’t thought about it and was incredibly sorry. She repeated this apology in a text message when this editorial team asked her for a statement.

But the apologetic posts are obviously not enough to calm people down. On the social network X, formerly Twitter, the terms “Maria”, “Jesus” and “Ameti” are trending in Switzerland over the weekend.

As of Sunday afternoon, Ameti’s apology included over 1,000 comments, some of them hateful. Conservative politicians such as the former SVP National Councillor from Zurich Therese Schläpfer are calling for her resignation and expulsion from the GLP party. Former centrist National Councillor Kathy Riklin supports the demand and adds: “Simply stupid, embarrassing and hurtful to religious feelings, Sanija Ameti. Please keep your hands off weapons and politics!”

On Saturday afternoon, even the Russian propaganda portal RT took up the controversy, not without mentioning that Ameti represents a pro-Ukrainian policy.

Ameti works as a consultant for the PR agency Farner. At the same time, she is a prominent face of the GLP. She sits on the city council of Zurich for the party and on the party leadership of the cantonal party (Communications and Campaigns Department).

The national GLP immediately distanced itself from Ameti’s posts on Sunday afternoon: “That was a huge act of stupidity that is inexcusable,” said President Jürg Grossen. He has not yet spoken to her, “but we will certainly seek dialogue.” He does not want to rule out consequences.

Ameti is also receiving harsh criticism from within his own ranks at the cantonal level. “Sanija Ameti’s Instagram post in no way reflects the values ​​of the Green Liberals,” writes the Zurich section on X, formerly Twitter. “Our party condemns any form of violence and disrespect towards religious symbols, we are committed to tolerance, respect and peaceful interaction with one another.”

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