The photojournalist with the Fiji Times and Fiji Sun, died from injuries sustained while covering Fiji’s semi-civilian coup in Suva in 2000 as well as the subsequent military coup in December 2006. According to reports, Moce was beaten and attacked by rebel supporters in the 2000 coup. Later, during the 2006 coup, Moce reported that he was confronted while trying to take pictures of soldiers escorting a person from the Methodist Church in Suva. He described being manhandled before being taken to a military camp where he was detained and questioned. Moce never fully recovered from injuries to his back. By 2013, he was left paralysed and bedridden.

In September 2015, Moce was discharged from the Tamavua Rehabilitation Hospital to be with his family. He is survived by his wife Mili and son. The Pacific Freedom Forum deplored the attack and the inaction by the government to identify those responsible. PFF went on to say: "Without the bravery and dedication of Sitiveni Moce and that of his colleagues, the events surrounding the military takeover would have largely remained a mystery.”