Cover that bottom, Brazilian judge orders

Pedestrians walk past the controversial advertisement for this month's Brazilian Playboy magazine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) -- A Brazilian judge said on Tuesday he had ordered the naked bottom of this month's Brazil Playboy cover girl on billboard ads in Rio de Janeiro be covered up to protect children from obscenity.

Judge Siro Darlan ordered that official black-and-white notices be plastered over the backside of Carla Perez, a well-known television presenter and dancer.

"The law states that no magazine or publication can expose material not suitable for under-18s without complying with certain legal conditions," Judge Darlan told Reuters.

Darlan, who oversees a court for the protection of minors, said Playboy would be ordered to remove the three billboard ads from the streets of Rio. He also plans to prosecute the magazine for corruption of minors.

The ads feature a horizontal Perez showing off her bikini tan marks and carrying the slogan: "Father Christmas won't be running around with those little deer again." The word for "deer," veado, also means "homosexual" in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese.

Playboy, published by Brazil's Editora Abril, said it had not been informed of the judge's action. "But Abril would never deliberately do anything that was against the law," Playboy spokeswoman Marilia Schumann said.

She said she was not aware of legal action against the ads in other cities. Darlan's jurisdiction only covers Rio, where nudity is commonplace during the annual Carnival.

The billboard ban was Darlan's latest swing at Playboy's December issue, which also has pictures of Santa Claus clutching a partially nude Perez. He earlier ordered officials to confiscate issues displayed at newsstands without legally-mandated opaque packaging.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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