A Muslim member of the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (GLP), Sanija Ameti, has apologized for using a Christian image for target practice.
The politician sparked outrage over the weekend when she posted a photo on Instagram of herself holding a sport pistol and another showing a picture of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, with their faces riddled with pellet holes.
According to local media, she had used a reproduced painting by the medieval Italian artist Tommaso del Mazza, taken from an illustrated catalogue.
After an online backlash, Ameti took down the post and apologized. She explained that she had decided to use a page from the catalogue because it was of the right size and “visible enough” to serve as a target.
“I didn’t pay attention to the content of the images,” she claimed. “That wasn’t right. I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart if I offended anyone.”
Speaking to the newspaper Blick, Ameti admitted that her actions were “absolutely stupid,” but added that she “didn’t think anything of it” at the time.
Several conservative politicians have condemned Ameti and urged her to resign from official posts. Nicolas Rimoldi, founder of the Mass-Voll party, accused Ameti of “inciting hatred” against Christians and threatened to take legal action.
Ameti’s family arrived in Switzerland in the 1990s as refugees from the war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina. A trained lawyer, Ameti is a councilwoman in the canton of Zurich. She is also the co-president of Operation Libero, a movement aimed at “fighting populism” and advancing “an open and progressive” society, according to its mission statement.