NY judge: Religion aside, monkey meat needs permit

NY judge: Religion aside, monkey meat needs permit

news.yahoo.com

NEW YORK – A federal judge in Brooklyn has rejected a Liberian woman's religious reasons for smuggling endangered monkey meat into the country.

U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie ruled Wednesday that Mamie Manneh's faith didn't preclude her from applying for permits to import exotic food or explain why she misled officials.

Manneh was charged with smuggling the meat three years ago after customs agents seized a shipment of primate parts as it passed through Kennedy Airport on the way to her home in Staten Island.

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What next? No incence at Buddist temples because fo second hand smoke concerns? I mean lets face it this one of the weirders customs i have seen but its not that far off. I wonder if she had gone through the red tape and applied for the permits they would have let her go through with the imports? I took a look at google and this does not appear to be a wide spread practice.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yay all we need is some of those monkey parts to be infested with Ebola or some other nightmare pathogen and poof lots of dead people in NY. Terrorists will get blamed then we'll bomb and invade some country over an extremely stupid accident.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
Yay all we need is some of those monkey parts to be infested with Ebola or some other nightmare pathogen and poof lots of dead people in NY. Terrorists will get blamed then we'll bomb and invade some country over an extremely stupid accident.

Exactly. But then again I don't see us going into liberia. Not enough oil or anything else of strategic value unless we want that ship registration revenue.

reply to post by FredT


We would probably go into some country not even connected to the incident like Nigeria or Somalia. Someone would pay for the incident, even if it was just an accident.

reply to post by FredT


I don't understand how eating Monkey meat is a religous thing? It just looks like one of those "grasping at straws" excuses. it might be cultural, for sure, but that is not the same as religion.

If this woman has some sense, she should farm the things in the US and sell the meat to her compatriots, rather than going through the hassle of importing what is essentially wild bush meat (with all the inherent dangers) from Africa.

reply to post by stumason




Yeah, its clearly not a widespread practice anywhere. As you say it seems religion was more an excuse or cover for other activities. Look at it this way if she is deported she can get back to eating what she wants

Monkeys are sentient beings and the idea of people eating them is sick. In some countries, primates are to get human rights and become wards of state.

www.timesonline.co.uk...

She should have other charges filed against her also!

The types of monkeys she was going to eat are protected and endangered!

Culture Cash Over Monkey Meat Ends Up In Court

Agents later found 33 pieces of dried, smoked bushmeat in the garage of Ms. Manneh's Bement Avenue home.
The primate parts comprised green monkey and hamadryas baboon -- animals protected under the Convention on International Trade in the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (C.I.T.E.S.), an international treaty among more than 170 countries. The aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

This article says her church was Christ Memorial Christian Church.

In addition, 17 members of the church Ms. Manneh attends in Stapleton, Christ Memorial Christian Church, signed an affidavit attesting to their practice of eating bushmeat.

Tried to find out more about the church, but came up empty.

WHY would a church in the US even THINK of using monkey meat in a ritual!