Valiulin Timur

The former head of Russia's 'anti-extremism' federal police department

VALIULIN, Timur Samirovich (b. 1962) is a Russian police officer, the former head of the infamous General Directorate for Combating Extremism (Center ‘E’). Born near Moscow, he graduated from Moscow Institute of Railway Engineers in 1985. Until 1992, he served as an officer of the Office for Combating Thefts of Socialist Property of the Moscow City Executive Committee. Since 1992, for nine years, Valiullin served in the Office of Economic Crimes of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Moscow. In 2002, he headed the Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Central Administrative District of Moscow. Then for one year, he headed the Office for Combating Organized Crime of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate in Moscow. From 2008 to 2012, he served as the head of the Center for Combating Extremism of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Moscow. On September 4, 2012, Putin appointed Timur Valiulin the head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

On December 26, 2018, Timur Valiulin resigned. According to media reports, Valiullin’s resignation was related to the conflict with his ex-wife, who wrote a denunciation on him. She reported on her ex-husband’s undeclared property, in Italy and Bulgaria, as well as a few other offenses.

Organizing and carrying out political repression.

The Main Directorate for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Center ‘E’, CPE), which Valiullin headed for a long time, is a unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia that performs the functions of the political police. The Center ‘E’ persecutes opposition leaders and activists, spies on them, and investigates criminal cases of an “extremist nature”, including clearly far-fetched ones. The employees of the Center ‘E’ use the widest arsenal of pressure on activists, including threats, blackmail, attempts to recruit, fabrication of criminal cases, beatings, etc. etc. There are cases when individual employees of the Center ‘E’ took part in the beatings and even murders of the opposition activists.

Timur Valiullin headed the punitive body for six years. During his tenure, Center ‘E’ markedly intensified its activities, pursuing opposition activists across the country. Valiulin himself proposed repressive initiatives. At a meeting of the Presidential Human Rights Council on October 17, 2017, Valiullin proposed tightening the responsibility of parents and schools for the participation of children in rallies unauthorized by the authorities.

On April 6, 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on 24 Russian officials and businessmen, including Timur Valiulin.