Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Serbian-language media have published articles about a character in Switzerland, whom they have identified without evidence as being of Kosovo origin.
Sanija Ameti is the character in question, who over the weekend was put at the center of criticism in Switzerland after publishing several photos on her Instagram profile where she is seen shooting a gun at a picture of Saint Mary and the baby Christ.
What did the media say in Serbian?
In the Serbian language media (Kurir.rs, Blic.rs, Kosovo-Online.com, Danas.rs) reported on this case. In their articles, Sanija Ameti is claimed to be of Kosovo origin.
"A POLITICIAN FROM KOSOVO HAS POSTED A PHOTO OF THE VIRGIN WITH JESUS! Sanija caused a stir on the networks, quickly deleted everything: Here's how she justified herself after the scandal", is the headline of the Serbian media outlet, "Blic.rs". ""In the media and social networks it is said that Ameti is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while others say that she is originally from Albania. As we learn, she is originally from Kosovo," this medium claims.
"UNSEEN SCANDAL IN SWITZERLAND: A politician of Kosovo origin took a photo of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in her arms, practicing shooting?!", writes another Serbian media outlet "Kurir.rs". "According to RT, Sanija Ameti's family came to Switzerland as refugees from Kosovo in the 1990s. She was a three-year-old girl at the time.", writes "Kurir".
Another Serbian-language media outlet based in Kosovo, "Kosovo-Online.com", also published an article with the title: "Swiss politician of Kosovo origin shoots at image of Saint Mary and Christ", while the article further writes: "As RT reports, Sanija Ameti's family came to Switzerland as refugees from Kosovo in the 1990s..
The same has been reported by the Serbian newspaper "Danas.rs", which has claimed without evidence that Sanija Ameti is originally from Kosovo. "The Swiss politician of Kosovo origin who shot the Virgin Mary has resigned: She is also threatened with expulsion from the party", is the headline of this media outlet. "Ameti is originally from Kosovo and moved to Switzerland with her parents from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.", "Danas" claimed, without providing any facts or evidence for this.
But what is the origin of Sanija Ameti?
The claims of the Serbian media do not hold up, at least from the public online data about the character in question, as the suspected perpetrator of this incident has never stated that she is originally from Kosovo.
During an interview conducted for the Swiss media "pme.ch" (HERE) in 2022 with Sanija Ameti, the article reported that she is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Born in Bosnia in 1992, she came to Zurich at the age of 3 with her parents.", writes among other things in this article about Sanija.
The only thing that connects her to Kosovo, at least from public online records, is her election campaign for the Swiss National Council as co-president of the political movement Operation Libero, which she launched from Pristina International Airport (HERE).
Analyze:
Some Serbian-language media outlets have falsely claimed that a character in Switzerland, named Sanija Ameti, is of Kosovo origin. In an interview that Ameti gave in 2022 for the Swiss media outlet pme.ch, it was reported that she is of Bosnia and Herzegovina origin, and Kosovo was not mentioned anywhere.
Even on her Wikipedia page it says that Ameti was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HERE).
Therefore, based on the online research that hibrid.info has conducted, it has not been found anywhere that the same one originates from Kosovo.
According to hibrid.info's working methodology, these articles fall into the "Manipulation of facts" category.
Manipulation of facts
“Fact manipulation” is a rating given to news content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading the media content consumers’ conclusions about the actual meaning of the facts presented.