A total of 113 people received treatment at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for injuries suffered during the pro-electoral reform rally last Saturday, Human rights NGO Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) says.

The NGO said it obtained this information when it visited the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) yesterday and met with the hospital's Emergency and Trauma Department head Dr Abu Hasan Assari Abdullah.

Of the 113 patients sent to HKL, Suaram said, nine were women, 11 police officers, 13 were admitted and one had to undergo surgery.

As of yesterday only seven were still warded for follow-up treatment and observation.

They include two journalists, one from TheSun and one from television channel Al-Hijrah , two police officers and two protesters, one of whom is a 17-year-old.

Suaram decried "the use of unnecessary and excessive force by the police " during the pro-electoral reform rally as the cause of the many casualties among people exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression and assembly.

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It also condemned the police violence and attacks against peaceful protesters, members of the press and the general public.

Abu Hassan had told reporters last Saturday evening that HKL received 63 protesters and two policemen as new patients from the chaos at the rally in the federal capital.

He said one of the policemen was being treated for head injuries and the other for a broken tooth.

"Forty of the patients were men and 25 were women. They are aged between 15 and 74. Seven of them were warded for breathing difficulties and fatigue, while the others received outpatient treatment," he had said.

What was to be a peaceful sit-in protest attended by more than 100,000 people last Saturday turned chaotic when several protesters allegedly broke a police barbed wire cordon ringing Dataran Merdeka.

This precipitated a violent response from the police, not only against those who broke through the cordon but at other peaceful protesters and journalists who tried to document the attacks as tear-gas canisters, punches and kicks were let loose upon the crowd at several locations.