Former premier Najib Abdul Razak said fugitive businessperson Jho Low should be accountable but stopped short of joining calls for him to return to Malaysia.

He was asked to respond to former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's call for Low to return after the businessperson criticised Malaysia's seizure of the superyacht the Equanimity, which authorities claim he acquired using misappropriated 1MDB funds.

"Everything has to be done on the basis of the rule of law,” Najib told reporters at the Parliament lobby this afternoon.

"I have always said that no one is above the law and whoever has done anything wrong - the force of the law should take its course," he added.

Pressed again if he thought Low should return to Malaysia, Najib replied: "Well, as long as whatever is done is on the basis of the rule of law.”

"As I said, if it's done illegally - if the yacht is obtained in a matter that is illegal in the sense that the money is not due to him and has been used as alleged, he has to be accountable for it. That has been my position," he added.

The Pekan MP was also asked about Low's claim that the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) civil forfeiture filings had not proved anything.

"I don't want to say anything on him. It's up to him because we are not at all involved in respect of the yacht," he said.

The DOJ believes that at least US$4.5 billion (RM18.42 billion at current rates) was misappropriated from 1MDB and laundered through the global financial system, including in the US.

The money was allegedly used to acquire various assets across the globe, with many in the US.

Malaysia had relied on the DOJ's investigation in the seizure of the Equanimity.

The Equanimity, with an estimated value of RM1 billion, was first seized off the coast of Indonesia in a joint-operation between Indonesian authorities and the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Indonesia handed over the superyacht to Malaysia last week.