Ugandan rights groups upset at a murder's pardon

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) ? A decision by Uganda's president to pardon an Indian man sentenced to die for the murder of his wife has generated fierce criticism from activists who say it sends the wrong message in a country where women's rights have long been abused.

Sharma Kooky, who was set free this week on humanitarian grounds, spent 12 years in jail for torturing his wife to death in a case whose gruesome details once shocked and then galvanized the women's rights movement.

President Yoweri Museveni has rarely pardoned convicts. Only a handful of prisoners, mostly political prisoners, have been freed on his orders. Kooky was a businessman in Kampala.

Miria Matembe, a former parliamentarian, called the pardon unfortunate and insensitive.

Associated Press

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