In addition to desertion, Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, 35, faces charges of larceny and destruction of government property during his court martial at Camp Lejeune. He faces a maximum sentence of 27 years in prison if convicted of all charges, the Associated Press reported.
Defense attorneys maintain that he was kidnapped in 2004 by insurgents and that later, after briefly returning to the US, he became tangled up in Lebanese courts for years. Prosecutors allege Hassoun fled his post because he was unhappy with his deployment and the treatment of Iraqis by US troops.
Hassoun, a native of Lebanon and a naturalized American citizen, enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 2002 and served as an Arabic translator, the AP reported.
The case began when Hassoun went missing from a base in Fallujah in June 2004. Days later, he appeared blindfolded and with a sword above his head in a photo purportedly taken by insurgents belonging to the extremist group that claimed to be holding him captive.
Shortly after that, Hassoun turned up unharmed at the US Embassy in Beirut, saying he had been kidnapped. But officials were suspicious, and he was brought back to Camp Lejeune while the military considered charging him with desertion and counts related to a pistol and Humvee he is accused of taking, the AP reported.
After he was brought back to Camp Lejeune in 2004, Hassoun was allowed to visit family in Utah. With a military court hearing looming, Hassoun disappeared a second time in early 2005. Prosecutors said his whereabouts were unknown for years.
Hassoun traveled to Lebanon, but was arrested by that country’s authorities after Interpol issued a bulletin triggered by his deserter status, the AP reported.
After Lebanese court proceedings against Hassoun concluded in 2013, he turned himself into US authorities and was brought back to Camp Lejeune last summer.
Some are comparing Hassoun's case to that of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who left his post in Afghanistan only to be captured by the Taliban and held captive for five years. The Army is considering what, if any, charges or punishment Bergdahl should face.
Hassoun’s lawyer, Haytham Faraj, questions why his client's case is heading to trial when many unauthorized absences are handled administratively.
"To me it doesn't seem very fair," Faraj told the AP in a recent telephone interview.
