Swiss policy faces judgment after shooting 20 times in the image of Mary and Jesus

The Swiss prosecutors have presented criminal charges against a councilor of Zurich (Switzerland) and former leader of the Liberal Green Party after publishing images of itself shooting approximately 20 times to a Christian image that represents the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus.

According to the Swiss medium 20 minutesthe Zurich prosecution accuses Sanija Ameti to publicly belittle religious beliefs and disturb religious peace under the Article 261 of the Swiss Criminal Code.

The Code penalizes anyone “to insulte or mock publicly and maliciously from the religious convictions of others, and in particular of their belief in God, or maliciously profane objects of religious veneration.”

The incident occurred in September 2024, when Ameti used a compressed air gun to shoot at a reproduction from the XIV Painting The Virgin with the Child and the Archangel Miguelby the artist Tommaso del Mazza.

As reported, the policy shot from about 10 meters, deliberately pointing to the heads of Mary and Jesus.

Ameti, who identifies as Atea born in IslamThen he published photographs of the image desecrated on Instagram, subtitling it with the word “switch off“, A German term that means” turns off “, but that, in the context of shooting the faces of Mary and Jesus, was understood by some as a symbolic act of erased or elimination.

The images of desecration, including a foreground of bullet holes, caused immediate and generalized outrage.

In total, 31 people filed criminal complaints. Ameti resigned from his leadership position in the Zurich Green Liberal Party and left the game completely in January. However, it is still Independent Member of the Municipal Council of Zurich.

At that time, Ameti reacted to indignation in social networks with a brief publication in X.

“I apologize to those who felt injured by my publication,” wroteclaiming that initially he had not recognized the religious meaning of the image and then eliminated the photos when realizing it.

According to the accusation, the Zurich Prosecutor’s Office considers that the act was a deliberate “public staging” that constituted an “unnecessarily denigrating and painful contempt” towards the beliefs of Christians, with the potential to disturb religious peace.

Prosecutors request a conditional fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately $ 11,500) and a sanction of 2,500 francs (about $ 2,900), in addition to the legal costs.

The Swiss civic movement Mass-fullwhich filed one of the original complaints, the incident described as “a clear incitement to violence against Christians.”

Its president, Nicolas Rimoldi, said that, in the light of the increase in violence against Christians throughout Europe, such acts “lower the threshold for future attacks,” Swiss media reported.

The former Liberal Green Party policy has not been publicly commented on the accusation.

Swiss bishops reaction

The Swiss Episcopal Conference at that time condemned the act as “unacceptable”, stating that he expressed “violence and lack of respect for the human person” and that caused “deep wound among the Catholic faithful.”

The bishops emphasized that “even outside the religious representation of the Mother of God,” the act revealed “a fundamental lack of respect for human dignity,” the bishops said, according to CNA GermanEwtn News German agency.

The Bishop of Coira (Switzerland), Mons. Joseph Bonnemain, said that Ameti had written him personally to express his remorse.

In response, he publicly offered his forgiveness and urged Catholics and other believers to do the same.

“How would I not forgive her?” He said, according to CNA German.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.