There were unnecessary deaths in Egypt on Friday because there was an unnecessary reason for rallies by the anti-Morsi camp to be held. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the general who ousted Mohamed Morsi from the presidency, did not need to ask for a mandate from the people, in the form of going out in masses on the streets to fight what he called violence and terrorism. The decision for the military to step up its battle against the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Morsi is a member, must have been taken beforehand.

He who ousted Morsi would naturally seek to subdue his supporters – so even if only a handful of pro-military protesters had ventured out onto the streets Friday, the military would claim that to be enough. To ask from the people that they give Sisi the green light to tackle the Brotherhood with more vigor was a show for outsiders, to illustrate to the international community that this is what the majority of Egyptians want, in much the same vein that the millions who turned out on June 30 to demonstrate against Morsi’s first year in office were used to justify his ouster three days later. Sisi might also have been seeking justification for bloodshed that might ensue.

Sisi got his mandate and between 70-100 Brotherhood people were killed near Rabaa Al-Adawiya, a square in eastern Cairo which holds tens of thousands of supporters and where for the past month the Brotherhood has been maintaining an extended sit-in. The events of the day and the death tallies are not clear, but most likely from now on those who leave Rabaa will not be allowed to re-enter and those who remain will not be allowed to leave, thereby slowly reducing the number of protesters while sapping their will to fight on.

On Friday the stakes were raised higher still when a court ordered the detention of Morsi for 15 days over allegations that he collaborated with Hamas during a prison break shortly after the January 2011 revolt in which Morsi and other inmates escaped from jail. Morsi will be questioned about his alleged collaboration with Hamas and about attacks on police stations. He is accused of not only escaping, but also destroying the prison’s official records as well as the intentional killing and abduction of police officers and prisoners.

It is noteworthy that immediately after Morsi’s removal, even though the prosecutor opened an investigation into claims that he incited violence and the killing of protesters, the charges stem from an incident that took place before Morsi became president. In addition, Morsi was apparently in prison for only one day, raising the question of how he was able to create so much havoc in just 24 hours.

At any rate, the order was the first official statement on Morsi’s judicial status since he was overthrown and placed in custody at an undisclosed location. International pressure to either free or charge Morsi has increased steadily in recent weeks. Now the first real attempt by Egypt’s transitional regime to give legal definition to Morsi’s detention gives the government some badly needed breathing space.

Friday’s ruling, combined with the pro-military protests and the subsequent bloodshed, have now set the stage for more anxious days. Protesters and tension are now filling Egypt’s streets. These days, there are two Egypts and two kinds of Egyptians, and the volume has just been turned up a few notches.