The Zurich municipal councillor and Bosnian Muslim, Sanija Ameti, published photos of herself using a reproduction of a an image of Mary and Jesus as target practice at a shooting exercise on Instagram on September 7. The pierced heads of Mary and the baby Jesus could be seen on the picture.
Sanija Ameti is municipal councillor, member of the Swiss Green Liberal Party and co-president of Operation Libero. I needed sufficiently visible motifs".
Her post caused an outcry among Christians in Europe and the United States, prompting her to delete it and apologise. Ameti wrote on Instagram that she only had the art catalogue to hand and had not paid any attention to the motif.
The Green Liberals have distanced themselves from this act, with their president convinced that "it was a deliberate provocation". The cantonal and national parties condemned the act.
The Swiss Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly condemned the act: "Even if one disregards the religious representation of the Mother of God, the use of this image testifies to violence and disrespect towards the human person."