Army's handling of Bergdahl case highlights upcoming hearing

Attorneys for Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl will try to convince a judge this week that the US military has mishandled its prosecution of the soldier on charges that he deserted his post in Afghanistan.
Among the issues being considered during pretrial hearings is whether Gen Robert B Abrams faced improper conflicts when he referred Bergdahl for a general court-martial rather than a lower-level prosecution.
Defence attorneys argue that Abrams, the commanding general of US Army Forces Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, should be disqualified from the case because of a prior role advising former Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel during efforts to return Bergdahl from captivity.

In a separate motion, the defence contends Abrams was influenced by negative comments about Bergdahl by Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In September 2015, an officer who oversaw a preliminary hearing recommended the case be heard by a misdemeanour-level tribunal and said imprisonment wasn't warranted.
However, the following month, McCain told a reporter his Senate committee would itself hold a hearing if Bergdahl weren't punished. In December, Abrams sent Bergdahl's case to a general court-martial, rejecting the hearing officer's recommendation.

The defence argues the chain of events shows "impermissible meddling" by McCain and says either the charges should be thrown out, or Bergdahl should face no punishment if convicted. In their motion to disqualify Abrams, they argue for a reset in the case that would allow another commander to decide whether it warrants a general court-martial.

Bergdahl, who is from Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and wound up as a captive of the Taliban and its allies until 2014. The Obama administration won his release by swapping him for Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Bergdahl faces a court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy. The latter charge carries up to a life sentence.
Prosecutors claimed in a legal filing this month that Bergdahl told a fellow soldier shortly before he disappeared that he wanted to hike through India and Pakistan to join the Russian mob.
In a sworn statement from 2014, Shane Cross said that "leading up to his disappearance our conversations became focused on his fantasy of being in the Russian mob as a Hitman or Assassin.