French Culture Minister Rachida Dati suspended Laurent Vallet from his post as president of the state-run Institut national de l’audiovisuel on Tuesday, citing the need to ensure the “serenity of the institution.” Vallet said he accepted the decision, which followed press reports detailing his late-July arrest for buying cocaine. According to judicial and police sources, plain-clothes officers intercepted a 17-year-old suspected dealer on 29 July and traced him to Vallet’s Paris residence. The teenager was carrying €600 in cash; Vallet admitted purchasing roughly 10 grams of cocaine for that amount and handed the substance to police. Because it was his first arrest, prosecutors referred him to a court-ordered therapeutic program and summoned him to appear before the Paris judicial tribunal in early September. Vallet, 55, has led the INA since 2015 and was reconfirmed in May for a third five-year term. The publicly funded institute is responsible for archiving and monetising France’s radio and television heritage. His suspension leaves the organisation temporarily without its long-time chief as the culture ministry reviews the case.