A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media.
Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down.
She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target.
Photo: AP
“I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I realized its religious content. I didn’t think about it,” Ameti wrote on X. “I’m incredibly sorry.”
The Zurich chapter of the Green-Liberal party said it has launched expulsion proceedings against Ameti with the national organization.
Farner Group, a consulting firm where she worked, said in an e-mail that on Monday it had decided to “terminate the employment relationship” with Ameti.
The images continued to circulate in Swiss media and online on Tuesday.
Daily 20 Minutes published a photo of Ameti standing in what looks like a stone-paneled crypt and holding a large pistol. Another frame showed bullet holes in the haloed heads and faces of Mary and Jesus.
The poster, an advertisement from auction house Koller, showed details of the work Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael by 14th-century Italian painter Tommaso del Mazza that is to be auctioned on Sept. 20.
Associates, allies and her employer distanced themselves from the actions by Ameti, in particular ahead of Sept. 22 referendums on national and local issues — including an initiative to better protect biodiversity in Switzerland, which the Green-Liberal party in Zurich supports.
Kath.ch, a Web site of the media center for the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland, said Swiss bishops condemned the shooting by Ameti, “in which she aimed at a picture of Mary and the baby Jesus.”
“This hurts the religious sensibilities of many Catholics — including their [the bishops’] own,” it said.
The site, using an expletive, said that Ameti had triggered a storm of controversy.
It said she had reached out to kath.ch by e-mail and told it that she and her family “placed themselves under police protection due to threats.”
Operation Libero, an advocacy group she cofounded that promotes free democracy, said she had asked for forgiveness and acknowledged her actions were “absolutely stupid.”
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