Immigrant's case spotlights ritual use of monkey meat

[peejay 327]

Immigrant's case spotlights ritual use of monkey meat

Woman accused of smuggling is awaiting trial

By TOM HAYS

Associated Press

NEW YORK — From her baptism in Liberia to Christmas years later in her adopted New York, Mamie Manneh never lost the longing to celebrate religious rituals by eating monkey meat.

Now, the tribal customs of Manneh and other West African immigrants have become the focus of an unusual criminal case charging her with smuggling, and touching on issues of religious freedom, infectious diseases and wildlife preservation.

The case "appears to be the first of its kind relating to that uniquely African product," defense attorney Jan Rostal wrote in a pending motion to dismiss. "Unfortunately, it represents the sort of clash of cultural and religious values inherent in the melting pot that is America."

The case dates to early 2006, when inspectors at JFK Airport examined a shipment of 12 boxes from Guinea. They were addressed to Manneh and, according to a manifest, contained African dresses and smoked fish with a value of $780.

Stashed underneath the fish, the inspectors found what West Africans refer to as bushmeat: "skulls, limbs and torsos of nonhuman primate species," plus the hoof and leg of an antelope, court papers say.

Three days later, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents were at Manneh's door, where she told them she ran a smoked fish importing business.

According to the agents, she initially denied ordering any bushmeat from Africa or ever eating it in the U.S. But after she consented to a search, the agents came across a tiny, hairy arm hidden in her garage.

"Monkey," she explained, claiming the arm was sent to her "as a gift from God in heaven."

Federal prosecutors hit Manneh with smuggling charges that suggested she was a menace to man and beast alike.

Defense attorney Rostal has countered by accusing the government of picking on a poorly educated immigrant. Her client's only offense, she said, was her inability to grasp Western attitudes and regulations regarding bushmeat.

Manneh, 39, is already serving a two-year sentence in state prison for trying to run over a woman she suspected of sleeping with her husband, Zanger Jefferson. If convicted of the federal charges she faces deportation.

The prosecution also has dampened spirits at the church in Staten Island where Manneh and other African immigrants once packed the pews to practice a religion blending Christianity and tribal customs.

One of the few worshippers left, Leona Artis, says the congregation's appetite for monkey meat is deeply misunderstood.

Take Thanksgiving.

"Where some people have turkey, we'll have monkey meat," Artis said. "I've been eating it all my life. It's delicious."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...on/5326440.html

[eric&gen 0]

Stop monkeying around sillies.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Manneh, 39, is already serving a two-year sentence in state prison for trying to run over a woman she suspected of sleeping with her husband, Zanger Jefferson. If convicted of the federal charges she faces deportation.

Let me get this straight: You try to kill a fellow human and you face two years in state prison . You eat monkey meat and you'll get deported. What am I missing here? Shouldn't she have faced deportation for the attempted killing of a human? If not, then eating monkey meat shouldn't earn a deportation order either. This just doesn't add up.