SOTO DEL REAL, Spain — The British parents who took their critically ill child for treatment abroad without doctors’ consent were released from custody in Spain on Tuesday after authorities in the United Kingdom dropped charges of child cruelty against them.

A Spanish judge ordered the couple’s release after receiving notification from Britain that authorities there were no longer seeking their extradition. Their 5-year-old son Ashya, who has a severe brain tumor, has been cared for in a hospital in Malaga while they were incarcerated.

Brett and Naghemeh King were met by two cars as they left the Soto del Real prison, where they had been sent on Monday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that he welcomed the prosecution against Ashya’s parents being dropped.

“It’s important this little boy gets treatment & the love of his family,” he wrote.


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