Greenpeace activist bares all for Playboy

Wellington: A Greenpeace activist has stripped naked for the Brazilian edition of Playboy, just six months after she was released from a Russian gulag.

Ana Paula Maciel was aboard a ship called the Arctic Sunrise last September when 15 Russian soldiers rappelled onto the vessel from helicopters; this was Russia's response to a Greenpeace protest against drilling in Arctic circle. Maciel was captured and thrown into prison, Stuff.co.nz reported.

But after the event a fashion photographer called Andre Sanseverino mentioned it to Maciel's lawyer while she was still locked up, facing charges of international piracy and vandalism.

She dismissed the idea at first, but later warmed to it and when Muciel was released in November, she met with Sanseverino back in Brazil and went ahead with the photoshoot.

Maciel has said that she would be using the money paid by Playboy to fund a wildlife shelter.