Did Bowe Bergdahl appearing on ‘Serial’ alter his criminal case?

Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. Army private whose 2009 disappearance from his post in Afghanistan and subsequent capture by the Taliban led to a prisoner exchange for his release in 2014, will face a court-martial and a possible life sentence.

Abrams’ order was a surprise because the Army lawyer who presided over a preliminary hearing in San Antonio last September recommended that Bergdahl face a lower-level court-martial reserved for misdemeanor-level offenses in the military justice system, and that he be spared any jail time.

In a statement, the Army said Bergdahl will stand trial on two charges: desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty; and misbehaviour before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place. This conservative contingency feels that Obama was reckless and foolish to trade Bergdahl, one prisoner, for five detainees, with the Taliban.

In ordering the court martial on Monday, Army General Robert Abrams did not follow the recommendation of a preliminary hearing which, according to Bergdahl’s lawyer, called for Bergdahl to face a proceeding that could impose a potential maximum penalty of a year in confinement.

“The charges against Sergeant Bergdahl have today been referred for trial by a general court-martial”, the United States soldier’s attorney Eugene Fidell said in a statement on Monday.

Bergdahl disappeared on foot on June 30, 2009, from Combat Outpost Mest-Malak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and was subsequently captured by the Taliban.

USA 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.

Still, the Army’s decision comes just as a massive new audience of “Serial” fans begin following the case for the first time. On March 25, the military charged Bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The defense also complained that public comments about Bergdahl by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and by members of Congress were undermining Bergdahl’s ability to defend himself.

The Bergdahl prison swap was controversial from the start.

A spokesman for Gen. Abrams, John Boyce, said that the decision to go forward with a general court-martial now has nothing to do with Sgt. Bergdahl’s participation in the “Serial” podcast.

He also criticized some politicians who have spoken out, saying they have infringed on Bergdahl’s protections under the law. Fidell said he read that as a call to “hammer” Bergdahl for his actions. The report said the committee would ensure that “Sgt. Bergdahl’s behavior is adjudicated as required”. “There’s an established process whereby the military will both conduct this investigation and consider the results of it, and I don’t want to say anything that could be perceived as influencing that process in any way”. “I was capable of being what I appeared to be”, Bergdahl says. “I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing”.