Court Rejects Objection Against Television Series
Sao Paulo / Brazil (RNC Agency) 01.03.1996
A judge gave the go-ahead late on Tuesday to air two previously banned episodes of a racy Brazilian soap opera which show a young Roma woman having premarital sex. I decided to allow the show to go on television,`` Judge Jose Rodrigues Lema, of Rio de Janeiro's Tribunal of Justice, on Wednesday.The judge added he saw no legal reason to ban the two episodes of``Explode Coracao,`` or ``Exploding Heart.`` Rodrigues made his decision just in time to enable Rede Globo, the soap opera's producer, to air the first episode on Tuesday night. The show ended with the sensuous Roma ``Dara`` and her groom-to-be ``Julio`` disrobing and passionatelyembracing one another on the beach after dark. Rede Globo said the second episode would be aired on Wednesday. Rodrigues overruled alower court judge's order over the weekend to block both episodes.The ban, prompted by a complaint from a Roma attorney who said the scenes ``broke one of the principal taboos of Roma culture,`` was criticised by Brazil's Roma community.