PHNOM PENH--Myanmar's deputy foreign minister told Asian and European officials Thursday that the regime rejects foreign "pressure and interference" over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Speaking at a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and EU ministers in the Cambodian capital, Maung Myint said that the charges against the pro-democracy icon were an "internal legal issue."

"It is not political, it is not a human rights issue. So we don't accept pressure and interference from abroad," the Myanmar official said.

"I expect that the Excellencies from abroad, especially the EU, can understand more about Myanmar," he said.

The statement, one of the strongest yet from the ruling junta, came as ASEAN and European ministers opened talks in Phnom Penh with pledges to boost ties -- yet with the Myanmar issue looming in the background.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail on charges of breaching her house arrest after an eccentric American man swam to her lakeside house in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.