German singer accused of concealing HIV status, infecting one

Benaissa now faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm. If convicted, she could face a prison sentence between six months to 10 years.

She confessed that she was "careless during those days" and pleaded guilty of not telling her sex partners about her condition which could lead to the lethal AIDS.

Benaissa apologetic
Singer in the German girl band ‘No Angels,’ Benaissa apologized to the justices at the opening of her trial in Germany.

She confessed that she was "careless during those days" and pleaded guilty of not telling her sex partners about her condition which could lead to the lethal AIDS.

Donning jeans and a purple blouse, Benaissa said that her "handling" of her illness was "wrong." And that she should have disclosed her HIV infection before indulging in intercourse.

"I am sorry with all my heart," Benaissa said.

In response to the charge of infecting one of the three men with whom she had unprotected sex, she said, "I never wanted this to happen to one of my partners."

Benaissa, who has an 11-year-old daughter, has herself not yet developed the symptoms of AIDS.

The infected man is scheduled to give evidence in the hearing later on Monday.

In Benaissa’s defense, HIV AIDS expert Professor Dr Josef Eberle of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich is expected to state under oath that the victim and complainant may have been infected by someone else, with whom this man may have had sex.

The trial, which is expected to last five days, will also have fellow members of ‘No Angels’ as witnesses.

Benaissa’s past
Benaissa's HIV status was revealed during a pregnancy test in the year 2000.
"I was totally surprised," she said.

Since then, she has had sexual encounters with the three men a maximum of five times between 2000 and 2004.

In 2008, one of the un-infected men complained against her to the police and Benaissa was apprehended a year later just before a concert in a nightclub in Frankfurt. She had to spend 10 days in custody.

‘No Angels’ shot to fame in 2000 after it was acclaimed during the TV talent show ‘Popstars.’

Between 2000 and 2003, the popularity of the show zoomed in Germany and it managed to sell five million albums during that period.

The band, after a reformation in 2007, performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Serbia in 2008. It managed the 23rd position.