Bowe Bergdahl faces judge at North Carolina Army base

USA army segeant Bowe Bergdahl, who has been charged with desertion, appeared before a court to ask for time on deciding whether a judge or a jury would hear his case.

Members of the Taliban captured Bergdahl shortly after he walked off his Army post, and the insurgent group held him prisoner for five years, which is the longest any American has ever survived as a prisoner of the Taliban. And as part of Bergdahl’s release, the White House agreed to release five Taliban prisoners held at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

If Bergdahl is convicted of the misbehavior charge, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

The next hearing was scheduled for January 12.

In ordering the court-martial last week, Army General Robert Abrams did not follow the recommendation of a preliminary hearing officer who, according to Bergdahl’s lawyer, called for him to face a proceeding that could impose a potential maximum penalty of a year in confinement. That prompted harsh criticism, with some in Congress accusing President Obama of jeopardizing the safety of the country with the exchange.

Major General Kenneth Dahl recommended the soldier’s case be moved to a special misdemeanour-level military court.

At the time, Bergdahl’s defense attorney, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement that the defense team “hoped the case would not go in this direction”. “I was capable of being what I appeared to be”, Bergdahl said.

Bergdahl walked away from his unit in Afghanistan in 2009, saying he wanted to draw attention to problems within the military.

Bergdahl hasn’t talked publicly about what happened, but spoke extensively with screenwriter Mark Boal, who shared 25 hours of recorded interviews with Sarah Koenig for her podcast, “Serial”.

The way Bergdahl tells it, he was deeply concerned about the leadership in his brigade, to the point he says he believed his comrades’ lives were at risk.

Copyright © The Associated Press. Earlier this month, the Army announced he would face the more serious general court-martial.