Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, a US army soldier who disappeared from his post in Afghanistan in 2009, will be tried in military court for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl was the subject of a controversial prisoner swap in May 2014, when the Obama administration negotiated Bergdahl’s release in exchange for five Taliban fighters detained at Guantánamo Bay.
If convicted on both counts, Bergdahl faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“Lieutenant Colonel Rosenblatt, Captain Foster and I had hoped the case would not go in this direction,” lead defense attorney Eugene Fidell said in a statement, referring to Bergdahl’s defense team.
“We will continue to defend Sergeant Bergdahl as the case proceeds.”