Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to face desertion charge in court martial

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been recommended for trial by general court-martial, the Army announced Monday.

Bergdahl was released after President Obama traded him for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in 2014. He was later charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, accused of abandoning his post before he was captured.

The case is supervised by Gen. Robert Abrams, who controls U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. Visger additionally urged for Bergdahl against penitentiary.

The Army Forces Command overruled the recommendations of the Article 32 hearing officer, who had said Bergdahl should face only a Special Court Martial, which usually tried misdemeanor offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and which can only mete out punishments of up to a year in prison. The report said the committee would ensure that “Sgt. Bergdahl’s behavior is adjudicated as required”. Later, the administration changed its line and said that, Bergdahl’s potential failings aside, it had the obligation to do everything possible to win the freedom of a missing soldier. 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.

While the news is hard to understand for those who don’t understand the ins and outs of the military legal system, the Serial podcast team is there to break down what this means for Bergdahl.

The season’s first episode also included Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump saying, “In the old days… deserters were shot”, in a snapshot of the uphill battle for sympathy that Bergdahl faces; his lawyers hope that his participation in “Serial” might help with that struggle.

United States soldier Bowe Bergdahl had been removed from his base in Afghanistan and has been detained by Taliban for five years. Fidell, though, argues that Bergdahl’s actions don’t warrant those charges, pointing to the fact that he was AWOL for just one day before he was captured by the enemy.

The show features phone calls between Bergdahl and Hollywood screenwriter Mark Boal, who wants to make a movie about the soldier. “I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing”.

Fidell also asked the Republican-led House and Senate Armed Services Committees to avoid further statements or actions “that prejudice our client’s right to a fair trial”. The release of the podcast – which will play out weekly for the foreseeable future – also didn’t prompt the Army to move forward with the cases now, rather than continuing to consider the evidence, Boyce added. Following the preliminary hearing, the New York Times reported that no jail sentence would be sought for Bergdahl.

He was released in May 2014 in a controversial swap for the five Taliban detainees.