PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Things are slowly returning to normal at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary after a riot earlier this month left one inmate dead and eight more injured.

Correctional Service Canada spokesman Jeff Campbell says a prison-wide lockdown at the facility near Prince Albert has been lifted and visitors are being allowed back.

He says the prison’s minimum-security unit resumed its normal operations late in the evening of Dec. 22 while the medium and maximum-security inmates were placed onto a modified routine.

Campbell says the higher-security inmates are now allowed to shower and make phone calls, but their movement within the rest of the prison is restricted.

Campbell confirmes that some prisoners have been transferred out of the federal facility since the riot, which caused significant damage to a large portion of the medium-security unit.

Howevever, he wouldn’t release details on how many inmates were transferred or where.

Campbell also won’t comment on the extent of the damage within the penitentiary, or speculate when the prison will return to fully normal operations.

(CJME)