Army Probe Set to Open for Ex-Taliban Captive Bowe Bergdahl
Photo shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl looking relaxed after Taliban captivity.
— -- The lawyer representing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said the former Taliban prisoner is mentally ready and looking forward to answering questions Wednesday in the opening round of an Army investigation led by Major Gen. Kenneth Dahl.
Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene Fidell told ABC News he spent the day at Ft. Sam Houston preparing Bergdahl for questioning, reviewing investigative reports and materials made available by the Army.
Photos taken during their working session and provided to ABC News show an apparently healthy, intent Bergdahl.
Regarding possible penalties that Bergdahl could face, Fidell told ABC News: “I don’t think any reasonable person would want to send someone who’s already been held captive for five years by the Taliban to jail.“
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Bergdahl was freed in a controversial swap earlier this year for five Taliban prisoners who had been held in the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
However, there could be unforeseen delays as a military lawyer based in Honolulu who has been added to the legal team representing Bergdahl will not be available until October 1, Fidell said.
Fidell had no comment on whether Bergdahl had spoken with his parents.
Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale, has been tasked with leading Bergdahl’s legal team as the Army investigates the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance from his Afghan outpost and his capture by the Taliban in 2009. Military sources previously told ABC News Bergdahl may have simply walked off the Army base of his own volition, echoing the findings of an internal investigation completed in 2009, according to defense officials.
With reporting by ABC News' Brian Ross and Luis Martinez.
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