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Bergdahl Was Chained, Told To Kill Himself While In Captivity

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl as seen in a 2010 video from a Taliban-affiliated insurgent group, the Haqqani Network.
Intel Center
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl as seen in a 2010 video from a Taliban-affiliated insurgent group, the Haqqani Network.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's attorney released details of his captivity in Afghanistan after the Army charged him Wednesday with desertion.

Video the Taliban distributed of Bergdahl at the time showed him sitting in front of a camera, or outside. But Bergdahl's attorney wrote in a statement that Bergdahl was chained for most of that time.

He was blindfolded and he was kept in one place for days, if not longer, on end. He had sores all over his body. He became very ill. He was beaten. He was told to kill himself or told that he was going to die. And he says that he tried to escape 12 times over the course of his captivity.

Some military experts have said Bergdahl's time held captive could be a mitigating factor in sentencing. A charge Bergdahl faces of endangering fellow soldiers carries a possible life sentence.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Inland Northwest Correspondent Jessica Robinson reports from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covers the economic, demographic and environmental trends that are shaping places east of the Cascades.
Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.