Disturbance of religious freedom Zurich public prosecutor's office plans to charge Sanija Ameti
The air pistol shots at a picture of the Virgin Mary apparently have legal repercussions: the Zurich public prosecutor's office probably wants to press charges against Sanija Ameti following a complaint by the Young SVP.
26.06.2025, 15:14
26.06.2025, 15:46
SDA
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- Sanija Ameti shot at a picture of the Virgin Mary with an air pistol in September 2024.
- The Young SVP has charged the former politician with disturbing religious freedom.
- As things stand at present, the Zurich public prosecutor's office will press charges.
The Zurich public prosecutor's office intends to bring charges against ex-GLP politician Sanija Ameti on suspicion of disturbing religious freedom. The 33-year-old came under fire after shooting a picture of Jesus and Mary.
This was confirmed today by Erich Wenzinger, spokesman for the Zurich cantonal public prosecutor's office, at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The Young SVP Switzerland had previously reported on Platform X about the intended prosecution.
"Our complaint was successful! Ms. Ameti has violated the religious freedom of millions of Christians with this out-of-place action," Nils Fiechter, President of the Junge SVP, is quoted as saying in the post. It also includes a photo of the letter from the public prosecutor's office - dated Tuesday, June 24. Following questioning, the criminal investigation is nearing completion, it says.
Wenzinger also confirmed that the public prosecutor's office had announced the conclusion of the proceedings to the parties these days. According to current estimates, the public prosecutor's office intends to conclude the proceedings with an indictment in court. Wenzinger emphasized that the proceedings have not yet been concluded at this stage.
Shots fired with an air pistol at a picture of the Virgin Mary
The co-president of Operation Libero and Zurich city councillor Sanija Ameti had fired an air pistol in a cellar in September 2024 - she perforated a catalog page of an auction house that showed a picture of Mary and Jesus.
Ameti published two pictures of this on Instagram with the word "switch off". Although she quickly deleted them and apologized, the chosen target had long since made headlines.
Part of the GLP distanced itself from Ameti, and party leader Jürg Grossen called for her to be expelled from the party. Ameti also lost her job at a PR agency.
In January of this year, she resigned from the GLP and one day later announced that she would remain co-president of Operation Libero. Since then, she has been politicking in the city parliament as an independent.
