 Four law lecturers at Thammasat University issued a statement condemning the coup makers for "disrespecting the will of the people".The groups, led by well-known law lecturer Vorajaet Phakeerat, added that the forced nullification of the 1997 People's Constitution also destroyed the social contract and was "unacceptable".An active online petition organized by Thongchai Winichakul, of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, was also set up at the PetitionOnline website to urge the junta not to arrest or harm protesters.