A Spanish judge on Monday extended the detention of a British couple arrested for taking their seriously ill son out of a hospital in England without medical consent, as sympathy for their situation grew at home. Brett and Naghemeh King sparked an international manhunt after removing five-year-old Ashya, who has a brain tumour, from hospital last week over their fears that he was not receiving the right care.
The couple were detained on a European arrest warrant near Malaga in southern Spain on Saturday and their son, who only recently underwent surgery and requires special feeding equipment, has been hospitalised in southern Spain.
At a hearing at the High Court in Madrid, the Kings refused to agree to their extradition back to Britain and were ordered to be held in custody for up to 72 hours pending a decision on whether they should be granted bail.
The judge also ordered an urgent medical report into the condition of Ashya, who has a medulloblastoma tumour.
The boy is currently being treated at a nearby children's hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.
In Britain, public concern for Ashya's immediate health has shifted to sympathy for the family's plight as well as anger, particularly on social media, at their pursuit by police.
Police had warned that Ashya's life was in danger if he was not in hospital, but his father and one of his brothers insisted in videos posted to YouTube that he is being cared for properly.