As someone that lives in a third world country, I think that everything John said about the case (that it was about people wanting bribes) is true.

Also he said people hit him with a baseball bat after putting a helmet on his head, I know even other techniques (a cop friend told me one of the things his corrupt colleagues do is hit people with soap bars inside towels, it also hurts a lot without leaving bruises if you know what you are doing).

I don't think he said this had been done to him. He merely said that's a common 'questioning' technique used in Belize.

In another reply he claims they did it to his post-arrest.

Do you remember the news about ukrainian authorities raiding the office of STALKER devs and demanding to be paid? If shit like this happened in Ukraine (which was a pretty stable country back then), then just imagine what scale of corruption is going on in countries like Belize.