Good God, this "debate" is still raging. Unbelievable.
Uhura is saying she felt like Valeris in the sense that she was disobeying orders and being a conspirator as Valeris was. Obviously Uhura's actions fell on the side of "the right thing to do".
I disagree with you there, but I can see this interpretation. I always took this line to mean that Uhura felt like Lt. Valeris in that she did not consider the Klingons trustworthy. Now granted, this would have been clearer in the finished film if Nichols had not outright refused to say the line "Guess who's coming to dinner?" which was instead given to Chekov. Nicholas Meyer felt that some of the stronger prejudicial lines would have more bite coming from the African-American actors (Such as "Klingons would become the alien trash of the galaxy" coming out of the mouth of
To Kill a Mockingbird's Brock Peters).
But since Nichols was not comfortable saying those lines or felt that they were out of character for Uhura (or both), in the finished film her largest beef with the Klingons is their table manners.
So it's either "Uhura speaks in incomplete/incoherent sentences" or "what she says means that Valeris wasn't prosecuted."
Or else you've been misunderstanding the line for 27 years.
Audience says "OH! Valeris was let off the hook. Good. We liked her and were upset that she became a bad guy, but feel better now that all is forgiven. It's a happy ending after all."



You think we were supposed to
like Valeris by the end of the film? After she commits cold blooded murder, frames the heroes of the movie, and outright refuses to help them prevent the murder of the UFP President? What does it take for a character to become
unsympathetic in your eyes?
The reason they let the conspirators go free is that the peace talks was the larger picture and far more important than individual vengeance. A trial of so many people would have sparked controversy and risked creating divisions.
So if this stuff was all quietly swept under the rug, why does Picard tell Spock that "history is aware of the role you played [in peace with the Klingons], Ambassador" in the "Unification" two-parter on TNG?
No, Uhura and Chekov were having a "There but for the grace of God" moment. They've been shamed by seeing their racism against Klingons put into practice, and realized how wrong they were
Yes. This is always how I've taken those lines. Uhura, Chekov, and Scotty, all have have mini arcs in the film that reflect Kirk's larger arc. He goes from "Let them die" to "You've given me back my son's [hope]." By the end of the film, Kirk and his crew are no longer frightened of change.
He doesn't deliver the line in that tone, though. Rather, he's jubilant.
And God knows that people are
never, ever jubilant when they're making jokes!
Because throughout the entire film, she is established as a likeable character with whom the crew bonds. They are taken aback by the revelation that she's in on things, and are equally horrified when she is tortured by the mind meld.
Again,

. Yeah, okay, when Valeris is Spock's protege and she makes suggestions like the "sabotage" thing, yes, the crew bonds with her & likes Valeris. And the audience is supposed to like her enough that they'll be surprised and/or disappointed when she turns out to be one of the conspirators. But Valeris
being a party to mass murder on the Klingon ship,
framing Kirk & McCoy for that crime,
directly murdering two crewman on the
Enterprise, and being
an accomplice to the attempted murderer of the UFP President... Those are pretty much dealbreakers, you know?
And I don't know if the
Enterprise crew is exactly horrified at Valeris' torture during the mind meld. I think they're stressed & nervous because they don't know if Spock will get the information they need about the names of the conspirators and the location of the conference, and startled/horrified because they've never seen Spock so quietly furious and intense before. But nobody on the bridge says a single word against what Spock is doing. They all seem to silently agree that it's a necessary evil. And when Spock breaks the meld, nobody, not even McCoy, expresses any concern if Valeris is all right. I'd say by then the characters (and the audience) are supposed to be in "She's a bad guy -- fuck her" mode.
And I honestly don't get the logic of why, if the audience is supposed to get that: A) Valeris has been set free offscreen, and B) We're supposed to feel
good about that, what the possible advantage of being ambiguous about that is. This was (IIRC) a $30-35 million dollar picture, a big Christmas release, and, as far as anyone knew or intended at the time, the last film they were going to be making with these characters. What the hell is the possible advantage of playing coy with that fact that one of the bad guys gets away with it? And why in the world would you end your
last motion picture with the original cast on a strange note of ambiguity in the last five minutes like that? They were wrapping everything up for Kirk and his crew, giving them a happy ending, and ended the movie with them literally sailing off into the sunset. That is not the time you suddenly introduce loose ends into the picture.