The judge issued the injunction in response to a lawsuit brought by the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro.

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Rio's carnival gets under way properly on Sunday when the main samba schools begin their musical parades.

"Carnival should not be used as an instrument of hatred, any kind of racism and clear trivialisation of barbaric and unjustified acts against minorities," Judge Juliana Kalichszteim said as she issued her injunction.

The ruling stops the Unidos do Viradouro samba school from parading with its planned Holocaust tableau and also having someone dressed as Adolf Hitler.

The group will face a fine if it goes ahead.

"The monstrosity that is the Holocaust just cannot be combined with the excessively festive nature of the carnival, a festival recognised worldwide for its joy, humour, entertainment and eroticism," said Fierj's lawyer Ricardo Brajterman.

'Offensive'

The float is one of several that Viradouro was planning to use as the group parades down Rio's sambadrome under its theme "It gives you goose bumps". The other floats are set to portray cold, fear and birth.

The Holocaust float would have shown a pile of mannequins and have had no people dancing or singing alongside it.

Viradouro's creative director, Paulo Barros, said the float was a "very respectful" reminder of the Holocaust and a reminder that such an atrocity should never be repeated.

But for Fierj the whole idea was offensive.

The federation's president had appealed to Viradouro not to use the float "out of respect for the dead, for their families and for history".

Representatives of Viradouro, which is one of Rio's top samba groups, have so far not commented on the injunction nor said what they plan to do.

(BBC)

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