HIV singer's managers 'tried to buy off man she infected'

Published on Monday 16 August 2010 14:23

A MAN who says he was infected with HIV by a singer with Germany's top girl band claimed in court yesterday that her management tried to buy his silence over her condition.

• Nadja Benaissa giving evidence in court. Pic: Getty

The 34-year-old, who says No Angels star Nadja Benaissa infected him with the HIV virus, stared at her in court saying: "You caused me so much grief."

He said he had sex with her up to seven times over a three-month period in 2004, at least three of which were without condoms.

He maintained a platonic relationship with her after their affair ended and said it was her aunt who told him in 2007 that she was HIV positive.

The man told the court in the western city of Darmstadt; "My quality of life has shrunk enormously. I cannot travel to many countries. I have been told by my doctor my condition can become full-blown Aids at any time.

"My income is halved but this is not about money. I am getting nausea all the time."

He said Benaissa's management offered him a deal to remain silent about her HIV-positive status but he said he wanted her to go public with it and pay €100,000 to an Aids research charity.

If she had done this, he claimed, he would not have gone to the police.

Benaissa, a Moroccan, said she was "careless during those days" of her youth and admitted she did not tell her sexual partners about her condition.

As to a charge of infecting one of the three men with the virus she said; "I never wanted this to happen to one of my partners."

And she said, weeping: "I am sorry from the bottom of my heart."

Later, her lawyer read a statement from her in which 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."

The singer with the No Angels group - who, at the height of their fame can roughly be compared to the UK's Girls Aloud group - is charged with attempted aggravated assault for unprotected sex with two men, and aggravated assault over the infected man.

During the five-day hearing, which started yesterday, she is expected to call Aids expert Professor Dr. Josef Eberle of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitty of Munich as a defence witness. He 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 uninfected partners made a complaint about her to police the previous year, followed by the man who contracted the virus.

She was kept in custody for ten days - a move that a German Aids awareness group criticised as disproportionate. The Deutsche Aids-Hilfe group argued if her partners also carried a share of the responsibility had been neglected.

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 German 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 place.

The trial continues.