Tahrir Square is no longer the festival of hope and anticipation that greeted me when I first arrived in Cairo in September 2011. Three years later, when it's not being tactically closed by the government to help prevent any further mass protests, it's a place of bitterness and disappointment.

I lived just round the corner from Tahrir Square at the time of the Egyptian revolution. When I first arrived I witnessed the fresh hope and excitement of a people who had just realised the force of their own power. But that hope has quickly disappeared, after desperate attempts to initiate change were constantly thwarted.

The acquittal of former president Hosni Mubarak on a flimsy legal technicality comes as no shock in an Egypt still ruled by injustice. His freedom has become a symbol of the revolution’s failure. But Egypt’s youth are not ready to give up the struggle for the revolution’s ideals just yet. More civil unrest is likely to lie ahead. But given the brutal crackdowns by the government so far, it seems unlikely that protests will change anything.

The court’s verdict confirms the dominance of Egypt’s military. The legal system remains under their control. The freedom of speech that so many fought for three years ago has been almost completely quashed. Any dissent is stamped on immediately and hundreds of dissenters have been killed and more sent to jail.

Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Show all 10 1 /10 Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests An anti-Mubarak protester stands with his mouth taped during a protest against the government and military Reuters Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Anti-Mubarak protesters gesture after former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's verdict Reuters Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters run for cover from smoke-grenades fired by the police during clashes in Tahrir Square in Cairo AFP Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters chant slogans as they gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo AFP Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters run away from a cloud of tear gas after clashes with Egyptian police near Tahrir Square EPA Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptians gather near Tahrir Square to protest the verdict of the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt AP Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Anti-Mubarak protesters shout slogans around a statue of Egypt's former Army Chief of Staff Abdel Moneim Riad Reuters Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptians gather near Tahrir Square to protest the verdict of the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt AP Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters gather near Tahrir Square after hearing the verdict of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak EPA Anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt Egypt protests Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters chant slogans as they gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo AFP

Whether the balance can ever be readdressed through protest or political activity remains to be seen. Live ammunition and tanks are the current responses to any form of protest. Civilians are being tried at military rather than civilian courts. Just after Mubarak was cleared the other day, one such court sentenced almost 200 people to death.

Likewise, a judge in Southern Cairo sentenced 529 people to death in March, for attacking a police station and killing two policemen. The same judge then sentenced another 683 people to death a month later.

Mass death sentences like these only serve to shift the balance of power even further towards the army. It’s also coupled with an informant culture cultivated at Sisi’s hands, which is instilling fear and distrust amongst civilians.

It's likely that the outrage of Mubarak’s acquittal will help reinvigorate the revolutionary movement, which remains fatigued from four years of struggle. Protests erupted across Cairo's universities when the verdict was announced. On Saturday evening two people were killed and nine injured when around 1,000 protestors tried to enter Tahrir Square.

For any protest to work, there needs to be a return to the cohesion of 2011. Yet the sweeping class and religious unity, which was the vision of the Arab Spring, seems as far away as ever. Mubarak loyalists, Sisi supporters, liberals, and the Muslim Brotherhood are just a few of Egypt’s increasingly disparate political groups, and with many of their hopes raised by the upheaval of 2011, they continue to clash over what’s best for the country's future.