Bergdahl Faces Life In Prison Over Rare Charge
A soldier held prisoner by the Taliban for years after he left his post in Afghanistan faces life in prison after he was charged with misbehaviour before the enemy.
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is accused of endangering fellow soldiers after he "left without authority" and "wrongfully caused search and recovery operations" after leaving his remote outpost in Paktika province on 30 June 2009.
The 28-year-old was captured, along with a group of Afghan soldiers, and sold to the Haqqani terrorist network, who are allied with the Taliban.
He was freed on 31 May last year in exchange for the release of Taliban detainees and has also been charged with desertion.
Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army's top lawyer, told the Associated Press that the misbehaviour before the enemy charge was used very rarely.
He said using the charge - known as an Article 99 offence - allowed US authorities to claim that Bergdahl's actions left his unit with one less soldier and also put servicemen searching for him in harm's way.
The have been claims that the deaths of six US soldiers were linked to the hunt for Bergdahl - but the Pentagon has always said there is no evidence anyone died searching for him.
The Obama administration has been criticised for agreeing to release the five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
Bergdahl will make an initial court appearance, known as an Article 32 hearing, on 17 September at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
The hearing is similar to a civilian grand jury, and the case could then be referred to a court-martial and go to trial.
The Article 99 offence was used hundreds of times during World War Two, but it has been seldom seen during conflicts since.
In 2004, a Marine Lance Corporal pleaded guilty to misbehaviour before the enemy after he refused to provide security for a convoy leaving a base.
For Bergdahl, the Article 99 offence allows prosecutors to seek a harsher sentence than for the desertion charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Statistics reveal the US Army prosecuted around 1,900 desertion cases between 2001 and the end of 2014.
Eugene Fidell, a lawyer for Bergdahl, has said his client is being charged twice for the same action.
In June, it emerged Bergdahl was apparently "high" on cannabis when he was captured.
Duane Clarridge, a former CIA operative who ran a network of informants on the ground in Afghanistan, said the Idaho native and the group of soldiers he was with were "diwana" - meaning "high of hashish".
