HIV Trial Targets German Pop Star

Singer Nadja Benaissa of the German pop group No Angels is in the middle of a trial in which she's accused of not informing her sex partners she's HIV-positive.

Germany has a law against intentional or negligent transmission of HIV. The 28-year-old Benaissa faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Benaissa is accused of not informing three men she slept with between 2000 and 2004 of her HIV status -- at least one has contracted the virus, reports The New York Times. The man told Benaissa in court, "You have created a lot of suffering in the world."

During the court proceedings, Benaissa's difficult life as a teenager was brought up -- Benaissa was doing drugs at 13 and pregnant at 16. She found out she had HIV during a pregnancy test. Benaissa's career would later take off with No Angels, and she has said that she kept her HIV status hidden partly because of damage she thought it would inflict upon the group.

Benaissa was arrested last year before a concert in Frankfurt. The trial, held in the German city of Darmstadt, is expected to last five more days.