Montevideo, October 21 (RHC-Mercopress) --Global anti-corruption campaigners at Transparency International (TI) elected Peruvian lawyer Jose Ugaz as it’s new head on Sunday marking a shift from quiet diplomacy in combating fraud and bribery toward more grassroots activism.

Ugaz, best known for leading the investigation against former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for corruption and human rights abuses, beat the former head of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy by 75 to 49 votes, the advocacy group said.

Ugaz, who is 55 years old and served as special prosecutor in a string of high profile corruption cases in his home country, will replace Canadian Huguette Labelle, a former Canadian civil servant.

A former head of TI's Peruvian chapter, Ugaz represents a younger generation that passionately embraced the organization’s relatively recent shift toward a more activist approach that calls for zero impunity for those who bend the law and escape punishment.

Founded in 1993 by Peter Eigen, a German lawyer who also worked for the World Bank to promote transparency and tackle corruption at all levels and across all sectors of society, TI now has more than 100 national chapters worldwide.

Its annual Corruption Perceptions Index is widely regarded as the most reliable indicator of corruption at the national level.