Bowe Bergdahl to face court martial on desertion charge

The attorney was likely referring to testimony by Major General Kenneth Dahl, who led the military investigation of the case, in which Dahl said no soldiers were killed in the search for Bergdahl and that the sergeant showed no signs of sympathy for the Taliban.

According to the New York Times, the decision to subject Bergdahl to a court martial was made by General Robert B. Abrams.

An arraignment will be held at Fort Bragg, Army officials said.

Bergdahl, 29, of Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province on June 30, 2009.

Bergdahl is charged with walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 before he was captured by insurgents, who held him for five years. Bergdahl returned to the U.S.in May 2014 after the administration swapped him for five Taliban leaders detained at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“The desertion charge is pretty straightforward”, writes the Serial team, but they add that the “misbehavior” charge is “rarely used, but the military can bring it when they want to accuse someone of putting his or her fellow troops in danger”. If convicted Bergdahl could face life in prison, or, if deemed appropriate by the court martial, be sentenced to death. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for saying his committee would investigate and hold a hearing if it disagrees with the outcome of the case.

The senior general who will ultimately decide Bergdahl’s fate is expected to come before McCain’s committee in the future for his next promotion.

Bergdahl’s case has generated massive controversy in the United States after it emerged he walked out of his unit willingly, prompting a massive manhunt, and because of the circumstances of his release in return for five militants.

“The convening authority did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officer who heard the witnesses”, Fidell said of Monday’s decision.

The first episode of Serial – “DUSTWUN” – aired last week. “I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing”.

“I want to see him serve time for what he did”, he said. Presidential candidate went so far as to call for the sergeant to be executed. Instead, he recommended that he go before a tribunal known as a “special court-martial” where the worst sentence Bergdahl could have received is a year of confinement.

Some military legal experts have expressed doubts the case against Bergdahl can be proven.