US army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, charged with deserting his combat outpost in Afghanistan before being captured by the Taliban in 2009, sought time on Tuesday to decide whether a military judge or jury of soldiers will decide his legal fate.
Bergdahl, who spent five years as a Taliban prisoner before gaining his release in a prisoner swap in 2014, faces a court-martial after being charged earlier this year with desertion and endangering US troops. The latter offence carries a life sentence if he is convicted.
The soldier’s case has been controversial. Some fellow troops resented the military resources devoted to searching for him.
Republicans criticised the Obama administration for the deal that freed him in a prisoner swap with the Taliban.
He was arraigned on Tuesday on the charges but did not enter a plea during a brief hearing at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. A military judge granted Bergdahl, 29, permission to postpone a decision on whether a jury or a judge alone will hear his case.
“The accused wishes to defer for reflection,” said Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Rosenblatt, Bergdahl’s lawyer.
Bergdahl, wearing a blue dress uniform, said little, offering “Yes, sir” or “No, sir” answers to the judge’s questions or allowing his lawyer to speak on his behalf.
Bergdahl, now stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, walked off his post to draw attention to “leadership failure” in his unit, he recently said on the popular podcast “Serial”. – Reuters