After having pulled together dozens of donations and loans, embattled unionist Ath Thorn delivered his $25,000 bail to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday.
The bail stems from a charge of inciting violence at a garment factory strike in September and the court had threatened pretrial detention should he fail to pay by next Monday.
“We delivered the bailing money to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court…and the court official registered that they had officially received the money, therefore we have met the court’s obligation,” said Mr. Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union.
“We borrowed money from our colleagues—some lent us $2,000, $1,000, $500—and we continue to collect money from charities to pay back the money,” he said.
Mr. Thorn has also seen harsh restrictions on his freedom of movement, with the court ordering him to avoid public gatherings as well as the factory and workers at the center of the charge.
At court Monday, Mr. Thorn filed a complaint calling for those restrictions to be dropped.
