US soldier Bowe Bergdahl charged with 'desertion' for disappearing from Afghan post in 2009

The U.S. Army has said that Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier who was taken hostage by the Taliban and freed later on in a controversial prisoner swap deal last year, has been charged with desertion over his disappearance from an Afghani post in 2009. He could face life imprisonment, if convicted.

Upon his return to the U.S., an investigation was launched by the army to determine whether the soldier had left his post in Afghanistan willfully, before being taken by Taliban in 2009, as claimed by Afghan war veterans, ABC News reported.

The Army has charged him with two counts under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, one being "desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty" while the other being "misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place."

The second count carries a potential sentence of "confinement for life," the report said. Both charges carry a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank to private, and a total forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

The case has been referred to a military preliminary hearing akin to a grand jury inquiry, which would determine if there was sufficient evidence to merit a court-martial after which a higher authority would decide to either proceed with the court-martial or drop the charges, among other options.

Bergdahl was released last year in a controversial swap deal, in which the U.S. released five Taliban figures from custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Bergdahl. The five Taliban militants were then relocated to Qatar, as a part of the deal.