German singer admits not telling sexual partners she was HIV positive
Girl band singer Nadja Benaissa has apologised to a German court for having sexual intercourse with men without telling them she carried HIV, the virus that leads to Aids.
By Allan Hall in Berlin
Published: 9:59AM BST 16 Aug 2010
Nadja Benaissa: Benaissa's HIV status was discovered in 2000 during a pregnancy test at a hospital Photo: REX FEATURES
Benaissa, 28, told justices at the District Court of Darmstadt; "I am sorry with all my heart." She said she was "careless during those days" and admitted she did not tell her sex partners about her condition.
As to the charge of infecting one of the three men with the virus she said; "I never wanted this to happen to one of my partners." Benaissa, a singer with the band No Angels which at their height can roughly be compared to Girls Aloud, is charged with attempted aggravated assault for unprotected sex with three men. She also stands accused of aggravated assault after one of them became infected with HIV. But it is not yet clear if she will admit to this charge. The man who was infected is expected to give evidence in the hearing later on Monday.
She is calling in her defence during the five-day hearing HIV/Aids expert Professor Dr Josef Eberle of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich who is expected to testify that the victim may have been infected by another sexual partner. After the trial before a judge and two lay people ends she could be jailed for a maximum of ten years. Benaissa's HIV status was discovered in 2000 during a pregnancy test at a hospital. "I was totally surprised," she said.
The court heard she had sexual encounters with the three men a maximum of five times between 2000 and 2004. She is appearing before a juvenile court because her infection happened when she was 17. Benaissa was arrested in April 2009 shortly before a concert in a nightclub in Frankfurt. One of the un-infected partners made a complaint about her to police the previous year.
Dressed in jeans and a purple blouse with her hair tied into a pony tail, Benaissa said that her "handling" of her illness was "wrong" when she failed to disclose her HIV infection. No Angels were discovered in 2000 during the TV talent show Popstars. They are Germany's most successful girl band and sold five million albums from 2000 to 2003. They reformed in 2007 and competed in the 2008 Eurovision Song contest but only came in 23rd.
In a statement from Benaissa read to the court by her lawyer she said; "It was said to me that the probability of me passing on the virus was practically zero. Therefore I also concealed the fact that I was infected to my acquaintances. I did not want my daughter to be branded by this. I told the band members because I trusted them. I never made it public because I thought that would mean the end of the band.”
