Swiss politician resigns after firing shots at Jesus picture

Sanija Ameti has been the co-president of the progressive movement, Operation Libero since 2021, and is a member of the Liberal Green Party in Zurich. Keystone-SDA

Swiss politician Sanija Ameti has resigned from leadership of the Liberal Green Party in Zurich after an uproar over pictures of her firing shots at a Christian motif. On Sunday evening, she deleted photos that had already been published on social media and made an apology.

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The youth arm of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party filed a criminal complaint against Ameti for violation of freedom of religion and worship, the party announced on Monday morning. Nicolas Rimoldi, founder of Mass-Voll, a movement formed to protest pandemic measures, also announced that he would press charges.

After Swiss daily Blick reported on the pictures published by Ameti on Instagram on Sunday, it did not take long for the 32-year-old politician to respond to the criticism. She had deleted the pictures after becoming aware of the religious content, she wrote on X and asked for an apology.

Ameti said that she had happened to have an art catalogue with her and had not paid attention to the religious content of the picture.

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Amid criticism, she resigned from leadership of the Liberal Greens in Zurich. The party is also considering expulsion proceedings, according to a report in Swiss public television SRF. “In the view of the party leadership, Sanija Ameti’s continued membership of the Green Liberals would damage the reputation of the Green Liberals. In order to prevent further damage, the party is requesting that expulsion proceedings be initiated immediately,” the party announced.

Ameti had published pictures showing her with a sports pistol during shooting practice, as well as a picture of Mary and Jesus riddled with gunshots.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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