Egypt erupted in protest after the news of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s sentence was announced at the weekend. Crowds of tens of thousands piled into Tahrir Square, Alexandria, and throughout Cairo. The masses of Egyptians assembled to voice their displeasure and anger at the perceived lack of justice for the ex-president, who was charged with complicity in the killing of protesters during the revolution and corruption.

According to the Egypt Live Blog of Al Jazeera, there are several marches planned for Sunday afternoon and into the night. Even in the early morning, there were already a few hundred people gathered in Tahrir Square, according to Al Jazeera.

TAP also reported that twenty people were injured yesterday from rock throwing and fist fights, alongside calls in Alexandria for the execution of all those complicit in protester deaths during the revolution.

In the almost year and a half since the start of the Egyptian revolution, the political transition towards a more democratic system of governance has been mired by the lack of trust many Egyptians have in their interim government and pessimism over the direction of the country.

As Egyptians face the upcoming presidential elections and consolidation of the post-revolutionary government, this verdict has destabilized an already fragile state. According to Ahmed Zahran, an Egyptian activist, the sentence will “have a big impact on the country.”

Instead of outright anger like that of many Egyptians, Ahmed was unsurprised by the verdict. He explained that the charge of complicity in protester deaths was extremely hard to prove, and with the lack of available evidence, there was no way that Mubarak could expect a harsher sentence.

When asked about his expectations for the consequences of this verdict, he said, “It is hard to have expectations. So many unexpected things have happened in the past year, so it is hard to tell what will happen.” Zahran did concede, however, that people are angry, and that the surge of political activity on the ground will continue to grow.

For Zahran, the verdict speaks to the larger, more systemic issues plaguing post-revolutionary Egypt. In his eyes, the most important obstacle to the development of a sustainable Egyptian political transition has been the rampant corruption left over from the Mubarak regime. “The concept of being at liberty is not an issue. The interim government does not have any legitimacy…Corruption is still there. There is division and no room for representation,” he explained.

According to Zahran, the current Egyptian system has not made substantial reforms, and the ideals of the Arab Spring have not yet been realized. “You cannot have a revolution without getting rid of corruption,” he concluded.

As news of Mubarak’s fate continues to spread, the discourse has become more heated. Many Egyptians have even taken their protest beyond the streets. They are using social media to connect their fellow Egyptians and the rest of the world with the growing unrest in Tahrir and beyond.

A Facebook status reads, “We are angry, but we will not give up. To be angry and to do nothing is to be a traitor, so we will keep fighting.”