Bern: Dozens of Swiss government officials were secretly monitored by police between 1930 and 1989, according to local media reports on Sunday. The monitoring involved at least 39 government ministers during the so-called "Secret Files Scandal," news outlet Swiss Info reported, citing weekly SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

According to Anadolu Agency, the surveillance was uncovered after reporters examined hundreds of thousands of files from the federal archive office and federal and cantonal police departments. Many of these files were first opened when the future government ministers became politically active in their younger years.

Among the monitored individuals was former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, who was spied on due to her opposition to the Vietnam War. Dreifuss served as a government minister between 1993 and 2002. Switzerland's first female government minister, Elisabeth Kopp, who served from 1984 until 1989, was also under surveillance after her father made significant investments in a business in Hungary.

The secret monitoring came to an end in 1989 following a public outcry over the scandal.