US sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is facing a potential life sentence in prison after a military official ordered him on Monday (Dec. 14) to face a court martial on charges of desertion and “misbehavior before the enemy.” Bergdahl left his remote outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by Taliban forces for five years—a saga currently being explored by the popular podcast Serial.
Bergdah’s chief lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell, issued a statement arguing that said that the decision by army commander Robert Abrams “did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officers who heard the witnesses.” An investigating officer for the army testified that a prison sentence for Bergdahl would be “inappropriate.”
Trump, the GOP presidential frontrunner, has referred to Bergdahl as a “no-good traitor who should have been executed.” The soldier was ultimately freed in a prison release for five Taliban fighters being held in the US Guantanamo Bay military detention camp.
The popular podcast Serial is covering Bergdahl’s story in its highly anticipated second season.