BEIJING - A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday said that no country has any right to interfere in China's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty.

Spokesman Liu Weimin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a European Union (EU) statement on a legal case in China.

Liu also expressed the hope that the European side proceeds from the overall interests of Sino-Europe relations and make more contribution to promoting mutual trust and cooperation.

It was reported that the office of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton had called on the Chinese government to release former lawyer Gao Zhisheng and publicize his situation and location.

China has released the information regarding Gao's case, Liu said. He pointed out that China is a country that operates under the rule of law and its judicial organs act in accordance with the law.

A Beijing court on December 16 withdrew the probation of Gao Zhisheng, a former lawyer convicted of inciting to overthrow state power, and put him back in jail.

Gao, 47, was sentenced to three years in prison with five years of probation and was deprived of his political rights for one year on December 22, 2006.

A statement from the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court said Gao had seriously violated the terms of his probation a number of times, which led to the court's decision to withdraw the probation.

Gao, who holds a residence permit of the city of Urumqi in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, had been a lawyer based in Beijing prior to his conviction.

He will serve his term in prison over the next three years, the statement said.