The president of a major French public institution, the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA), was suspended from his duties on Tuesday after being arrested at his home in Paris in late July for purchasing cocaine.
"Having learned from the press of the allegations against Laurent Vallet (...) in a case involving the purchase of narcotics, I have decided, for the sake of the institution, to suspend him immediately from his duties pending further information," French Culture Minister Rachida Dati wrote on X.
Vallet responded quickly to the Minister's decision. "I am aware of the harmful and reprehensible nature of drug use in all its forms," he said in a statement released by the INA, also on Tuesday. "I have put in place the necessary measures to put an end to it once and for all and will comply with any obligations the courts deem necessary."
Vallet, 55, was arrested at his home on 29 July after having cocaine delivered there, French news agency AFP learned on Tuesday from judicial and police sources. As this was his first arrest, he was "referred for compulsory treatment," a judicial source told AFP.
This is due to take place in early September at the Paris court, according to Vallet.
The INA's mission is to archive television and radio images and sounds and to promote these archives. The public institution did not respond immediately when contacted by AFP.
Everything began when police officers followed a 17-year-old man and managed to track him to the inner courtyard of a building, a police source told AFP. When he came out, they arrested him and found that he was carrying €600. The young man told them he had gone to see a friend.
The police then contacted the ‘friend’, who was, in fact, the president of the INA. He admitted to buying cocaine from the young man for €600 and handed the drugs over to the police.
