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Acupuncturist charged in 16 HIV infections

Swiss authorities say a self-styled healer has been indicted on charges that he intentionally infected 16 people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, between 2001 and 2005.

A regional prosecutor's office in Bern, the Swiss capital, says the unidentified man was indicted in Bern-Mitelland regional court on charges of intentionally spreading human disease and causing serious bodily harm, offenses that carry maximum penalties of five to 10 years respectively.

Prosecutors said in a statement that most of the victims attended his music school and that the defendant injected them with infected blood under various pretexts by pricking them with unknown objects or using a drink that made them pass out. They say the defendant "denies everything."

Prosecutors say proceedings against a second suspect have been closed for lack of evidence.

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