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Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to face most serious kind of court-martial in desertion case
By Dan Lamothe
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Washington: Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will face general court-martial in connection with his 2009 disappearance from his base in Afghanistan, raising the possibility that the soldier who was held captive for five years could face life in prison.
Bergdahl, 29, is charged with desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy, including if convicted of the more serious offence of endangering troops who searched for him in lawless areas of Afghanistan after his disappearance. He has been a political lightning rod since he was exchanged in May 2014 in a prisoner swap approved by the White House in which five Taliban officials were released from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and kept under supervised watch in Qatar.
The decision, announced on Monday, was made by General Robert Abrams, the four-star commander of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It comes after Bergdahl broke his silence last week by participating in the popular podcast Serial in which the soldier's recorded conversations with film producer Mark Boal were aired with Bergdahl's approval.
The decision is more severe than that recommended by an Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Visger, who oversaw a two-day hearing for Bergdahl's case in September, according to Bergdahl's lawyer. Visger recommended that Bergdahl face a lower form of judicial proceeding known as a special court-martial, which would have come with a maximum penalty of 12 months of confinement.
Bowe Bergdahl, now facing the possibility of life in prison.
An arraignment hearing will be held at a later date at Fort Bragg, Army officials said. Bergdahl is currently assigned to Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, with a desk job.
General court martial is the highest level of court martial. If convicted Bergdahl could face life in prison, or, if deemed appropriate by the court martial, be sentenced to death.
Bergdahl's attorney, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement on Monday that Abrams "did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officer". Bergdahl's defence team "had hoped the case would not go in this direction," Mr Fidell said.
"We will continue to defend Sergeant Bergdahl as the case proceeds," Mr Fidell said. "We again ask that Donald Trump cease his prejudicial months-long campaign of defamation against our client. We also ask that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees avoid any further statements or actions that prejudice our client's right to a fair trial."
An image taken from video obtained from Voice Of Jihad Website showing Bergdahl in a vehicle guarded by Taliban.Credit: Voice of Jihad website
Major General Kenneth Dahl, who led the military's investigation of Bergdahl's disappearance and capture, testified at a military probable cause hearing in September in San Antonio, Texas that Bergdahl was not a Taliban sympathiser and no soldiers directly involved in the search for him were killed.
General Dahl characterised Bergdahl as an unrealistically idealistic soldier who left his post to report concerns about his unit's leadership to a general at another base.
A frame grab from a 2010 video released by the Taliban showing Bowe Bergdahl with one of his Afghan captors.Credit: IntelCenter
Bergdahl disappeared on foot on June 30, 2009, from Combat Outpost Mest-Malak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and was subsequently captured by the Taliban.
US military prosecutors said at the hearing in September that Bergdahl snuck away from his post under the cover of night on a plan that was weeks in the making.
A billboard, photographed last year, calling for the release of Bergdahl, held for nearly five years by the Taliban after being captured in Afghanistan.Credit: Reuters
Testifying for the defence at that hearing, Terrence Russell, an expert with the military's Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, said in his five years of captivity, Bergdahl suffered torture, abuse and neglect at the hands of Taliban forces, including months of beatings and being confined for three and a half years to a metal cage barely big enough to stand in.
Washington Post, Reuters