German Singer Receives Suspended Sentence for HIV Sex

Nadja Benaissa sits in the court room and smiles at the Regional Court in Darmstadt, Germany. The singer was given a two-year suspended sentence for infecting a former partner with HIV by having unprotected sex with him in 2004. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A singer from the famous German all-girl band No Angels, which has a Bulgarian member in its line-up, has been given a two-year suspended sentence for infecting a former partner with HIV.

The former lover, who is HIV-positive, has said the singer infected him in 2004. According to the prosecutors, the 28-year-old Nadja Benaissa knew she was HIV-positive as early as 1999.

The singer admitted to the court in the German city of Darmstadt that she had unprotected sex and kept her HIV status secret, but denied deliberately infecting her partner.

On Thursday, the magistrates found her guilty of causing bodily harm to one man and attempted bodily harm for allegedly having sex with two other men who were not infected.

Although she could face up to 10 years imprisonment, Benaissa was given a suspended sentence and 300 hours of community service. The reason was that she confessed and expressed remorse.

“I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could turn back the clock and make it all not happen,” the singer told the court.

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