The director of Sciences Po Paris, Mathias Vicherat, was placed in police custody on the evening of Sunday December 3 for domestic violence, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Monday from a source close to the matter. Mr. Vicherat’s partner was also placed in police custody, each accusing the other of domestic violence, the prosecution told AFP.
Mr. Vicherat took over as head of Sciences Po Paris in November 2021 from Frédéric Mion, who was forced to resign in February of the same year for having concealed suspicions of incest targeting the political scientist Olivier Duhamel. The latter was then president of the National Political Science Foundation (FNSP), which finances the institution.
Opposed to the research director at the CNRS Christine Musselin and the general administrator of the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM), Olivier Faron, Mr. Vicherat was largely elected by the governance councils of the Institute of Political Studies and the FNSP to take the helm of Sciences Po Paris.