The HIV-positive singer (No Angels) has been charged with grievous bodily harm. Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe is calling for fair and objective reporting.
The main trial against the 28-year-old singer Nadja Benaissa begins next Monday at Darmstadt District Court. She is facing charges of "dangerous bodily harm and attempted dangerous bodily harm".
The former No Angels singer is accused of having unprotected sex with several men despite knowing about her HIV infection. According to the public prosecutor's office, there is "reasonable suspicion" that one of the men was infected with HIV. The trial against Nadja Benaissa is being heard by the juvenile court because she was still a teenager at the time.
Nadja Benaissa was arrested by police officers in a Frankfurt discotheque before her performance on 11 April 2009. The mother of a daughter spent ten days in custody. Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe protested massively against the public arrest, prejudgement and outing of the artist as HIV-positive by the authorities and warned against further criminalisation of HIV transmission.
The "Nadja Benaissa case" subsequently made headlines across Europe for weeks and - initiated by Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe - sparked a fundamental debate about the stigmatisation of HIV-positive people and the violation of personal rights by the judiciary and media. Nadja Benaissa publicly complained about the "impossible massiveness of the media" and spoke publicly about her HIV infection for the first time on "sternTV".
Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe is now calling on the media to accompany the process with fair and objective reporting.
(joli)
Further information from Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe on the trial: "HIV is not a weapon!"
Information on HIV and criminal law at aidshilfe.de
Press release by Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe dated 14 April 2009
Background: "10 reasons against the criminalisation of HIV transmission"
