German pop star escapes jail after failing to tell lovers she was HIV positive

Nadja Benaissa, a German popstar who admitted having unprotected sexual intercourse with three men without telling them she was HIV positive, has escaped a prison sentence.

Benaissa, who was a member of the popular German girl band No Angels, was given a two-year suspended sentence after telling the court she was “sorry with all my heart” and admitting being “careless”.

The 28 year-old was convicted of grievous bodily harm for sleeping with the men without protection. But prosecutors had sought a lenient sentence because Benaissa had confessed and expressed remorse.

“I made a huge mistake,” Benaissa – who won her place in the band through the reality show Popstars – told the Darmstadt court in western Germany at the end of the trial, adding she had kept it all a secret because she was afraid of what would happen if the public learned she had the virus.

The singer had known she was HIV positive since 1999.

“I am sorry with all my heart,” said the mother-of-one. “The last thing I wanted was for my partner to get infected.”

Benaissa became part of No Angels in 2000. The German equivalent of the British group Girls Aloud went on to become one of Germany’s most popular bands, selling more than five million records before breaking up in 2003.

They reformed in 2007 and took part in the 2008 Eurovision song contest.

In a statement through her lawyer, she said she was told that the chance of 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.”

She told how her HIV status was discovered when she went to hospital, aged 16, for routine tests during pregnancy: “I was totally surprised.”

The man who claims the pop star infected him with HIV said they had a three-month relationship at the beginning of 2004.

He said he got tested after Benaissa’s aunt asked him in 2007 whether he was aware that the singer was HIV positive.

Benaissa was arrested in April 2009, before a concert in Frankfurt and held in custody for 10 days.

She said she was “careless during those days” and admitted she did not tell her sexual partners about her condition.