Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion and misbehavior in front of the enemy at a court-martial trial, says a top Army commander Monday.
This means 29-year-old Bergdahl may head to prison for the rest of his life, moving far beyond what the original investigating officer said would be appropriate, The New York Times reports.
Gen. Robert Adams, commanding general of Forces Command, made the court-martial recommendation. No hearing date has been set, but it is expected to take place at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Bergdahl’s legal defense team said that although they didn’t want the case to move forward to court-martial, they will still continue to defend him. After the announcement was released, Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s lawyer, asked for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump to “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.”
Back in October, Trump stated that Bergdahl is a “no-good” traitor who should have been executed for abandoning his team.
Bergdahl was first captured June 20, 2009, after which point he spent five years in the Taliban’s captivity, until he returned to the United States following a prisoner swap in 2014. The Taliban received five leaders from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl. On March 25, the military charged Bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The latter is a much rarer charge.
Maj. Margaret Kurz described the search for Bergdahl in the most graphic terms, according to The New York Times.
“For 45 days, thousands of soldiers toiled in the heat, dirt, misery and sweat with almost no rest, little water and little food to find the accused. Fatigued and growing disheartened, they search for the accused knowing he left deliberately.”
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