Embattled union leader Ath Thorn yesterday said that he had begun a fundraising effort, trying to come up with $25,000 in bail money by the end of the week.

Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said union members would begin distributing flyers communicating his monetary need.

“If we don’t have enough maybe they will do something bad to us,” said Thorn, who was charged with incitement in Phnom Penh Municipal Court on April 8 following a complaint from a security guard who works at SL Garment factory, the venue of a C.CAWDU-led strike last year.

Thorn made the comments as he stood across from the court, which yesterday indefinitely postponed motion on a separate complaint filed by two former members that he and two other union leaders embezzled nearly $93,000.

In that case, Thorn, along with C.CAWDU vice president Kong Athit and secretary-general Ek Sopheakdey, allegedly pocketed money paid to the union by the E Garment factory as back pay for employees.